Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire before the Spanish conquest.
Located in the Peruvian Andes at an elevation of about 3,400 metres, Cusco served as the political, administrative, and religious centre of Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire. In Quechua, the city’s name is commonly written Qosqo or Qusqu. The Incas developed it into a major urban centre with temples, palaces, roads, and ceremonial spaces.
According to Inca tradition, the city was founded by Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo. Archaeological and historical evidence shows that Cusco’s importance grew over centuries, especially during the expansion of the Inca state in the fifteenth century. The city was organised symbolically in the shape of a puma in some traditional accounts.
Spanish forces captured Cusco in 1533 after defeating the Inca ruler Atahualpa’s faction and later established colonial buildings over parts of the Inca city. The famous Temple of the Sun, Coricancha, survives in altered form beneath the Santo Domingo convent.