Cuzco: Map & History

History

The Killke people occupied the region from 900 to 1200 AD, prior to the arrival of the Inca in the 13th century. Carbon-14 dating of Saksaywaman, the walled complex outside Cusco, established that Killke constructed the fortress about 1100 AD. The Inca later expanded and occupied the complex in the 13th century. In March 2008, archeologists discovered the ruins of an ancient temple, roadway and aqueduct system at Saksaywaman. The temple covers some 2,700 square feet (250 square meters) and contains 11 rooms thought to have held idols and mummies, establishing its religious purpose. Together with the results of excavations in 2007, when another temple was found at the edge of the fortress, this indicates a longtime religious as well as military use of the facility.

Government

During the Inca period, Cusco was the main political center of the region from which the Inca Empire was ruled and where the political and religious elite lived. After its Spanish foundation, it lost prominence due to Francisco Pizarro's decision to establish the capital of the new territories in the city of Lima because it had close access to the sea and communication with the metropolis. However, Cusco continued to be an important city within the viceregal political scheme to the point of being the first city in the entire Viceroyalty to have a bishop.

Economy

Economic activity in Cusco includes agriculture, especially maize and native tubers. The local industry is related to extractive activities and to food and beverage products, such as beer, carbonated waters, coffee, chocolates, among others. However, the relevant economic activity of its inhabitants is the reception of tourism, with increasingly better infrastructure and services. It is the second city in this country that has and maintains full employment. The city has recently grown in the industrial sector.

Tourism has been important to the Cusco economy since the early 2000s, bringing in more than 1.2 million tourists per year. In 2019, Cusco was the region that reached the highest number of tourists in Peru with more than 2.7 million tourists.

Culture

Due to its antiquity and significance, the center of the city preserves many buildings, squares and streets from pre-Columbian times as well as colonial constructions. That is why the city was declared in 1972 as Cultural Heritage of the Nation by Supreme Resolution No. 2900-72-ED. In 1983, during the VII session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, it was decided to declare this area as a World Heritage Site by establishing a central zone that constitutes the World Heritage Site proper and a buffer zone.