Cusco or Cuzco (; Latin American Spanish: [ˈkusko]; Quechua: Qosqo or Qusqu, both pronounced in Cuzco Quechua as [ˈqosqɔ]) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range, and the Huatanay and Urubamba rivers. It is the capital and largest city of the eponymous Cusco Province and Cusco Department. It has historically been one of the largest cultural, economic and political centers of Peru.
The region was inhabited by the Killke culture in the 10th century, with the fortress Sacsayhuamán being constructed in the 11th century. The city was originally founded in the 12th century by Manco Cápac, as the capital of the Kingdom of Cusco by and later Inca Empire. The region was conquered in the 16th century by the Spanish and reestablished on 23 March 1534, with most of the city being constructed over monuments left from the Inca Empire. In 1983, Cusco was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO with the title "City of Cusco". It has become a major tourist destination, hosting over 2 million visitors a year and providing passage to numerous Incan ruins, such as Machu Picchu, one of the seven modern wonders of the world. The Constitution of Peru (1993) designates the city as the Historical Capital of Peru.
Cusco is the seventh-most populous city in Peru; in 2017, it had a population of 428,450. It is also the largest city in the Peruvian Andes and the region is the seventh-most populous metropolitan area of Peru. Its elevation is around 3,400 m (11,200 ft). The largest district in the city is the Cusco District, which had a population of 114,630 in 2017, making up about one quarter of the city's total population.
Spelling and etymology
The indigenous name of this city is Qusqu. Although the name was used in Southern Quechua, its origin is found in the Aymara language. The word is derived from the phrase qusqu wanka ('rock of the owl'), related to the city's foundation myth of the Ayar siblings. According to this legend, Ayar Awqa (Ayar Auca) acquired wings and flew to the site of the future city; there he was transformed into a rock to mark the possession of the land by his ayllu ("lineage"):
Then Ayar Oche stood up, displayed a pair of large wings, and said he should be the one to stay at Guanacaure as an idol in order to speak with their father the Sun. Then they went up on top of the hill. Now at the site where he was to remain as an idol, Ayar Oche raised up in flight toward the heavens so high that they could not see him. He returned and told Ayar Manco that from then on he was to be named Manco Capac. Ayar Oche came from where the Sun was and the Sun had ordered that Ayar Manco take that name and go to the town that they had seen. After this had been stated by the idol, Ayar Oche turned into a stone, just as he was, with his wings. Later Manco Capac went down with Ayar Auca to their settlement...he liked the place now occupied in this city Cuzco. Manco Capac and his companion, with the help of the four women, made a house. Having done this, Manco Capac and his companion, with the four women, planted some land with maize. It is said that they took the maize from the cave, which this lord Manco Capac named Pacaritambo, which means those of origin because...they came out of that cave.
The Spanish conquistadors (Spanish soldiers) adopted the local name, transcribing it according to Spanish phonetics as Cuzco or, less often, Cozco. Cuzco was the standard spelling on official documents and chronicles in colonial times, though Cusco was also used. Cuzco, pronounced as in 16th-century Spanish, seems to have been a close approximation to the Cusco Quechua pronunciation of the name at the time.
As both Spanish and Quechua pronunciation have evolved since then, the Spanish pronunciation of 'z' is no longer universally close to the Quechua pronunciation. In 1976, the city mayor signed an ordinance banning the traditional spelling and ordering the use of a new spelling, Cusco, in municipality publications. Nineteen years later, on 23 June 1990, the local authorities formalized a new spelling more closely related to Quechua, Qosqo, but later administrations have not followed suit.
There is no international, official spelling of the city's name. In English-language publications both "s" and "z" can be found. The Oxford Dictionary of English and Merriam-Webster Dictionary prefer "Cuzco", and in scholarly writings "Cuzco" is used more often than "Cusco". The city's international airport code is CUZ, reflecting the earlier Spanish spelling.
Symbols
Flag
The official Flag of Cusco consists of seven horizontal stripes in the colors red, orange, yellow, green, sky blue, blue, and violet, representing the rainbow. This flag was introduced in 1973 by Raúl Montesinos Espejo in celebration of the 25th anniversary of his Tawantinsuyo Radio station. Its popularity led to its official adoption by the Municipality of Cusco in 1978. Since 2021, the flag has also included the golden Sol de Echenique, a symbol associated with the city's historical identity.
Coat of arms
The Coat of arms of Cusco was officially adopted in 1986 and is used by the city, province, and region of Cusco. The coat of arms incorporates elements from both Inca and Spanish heraldry. Historically, the city's arms included a golden castle on a red field with eight condors surrounding it. The modern design, officially adopted in 1986, features the Sol de Echenique, a golden sun emblem, as the central element, symbolizing the city's connection to its Inca heritage.
Anthem
The Anthem of Cusco was composed by Roberto Ojeda Campana with lyrics by Luis Nieto Miranda in 1944. It was officially adopted as the city's anthem and has been sung at public events since then. In 1991, the anthem was translated into Quechua by Faustino Espinoza Navarro and Mario Mejía Waman. The anthem is performed in both Spanish and Quechua, reflecting the city's cultural diversity and historical significance. In 2019, the Municipality of Cusco declared the performance of the anthem in Quechua at civic events to be of public interest and historical importance.
History
Killke culture
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.
Inca period
Cusco was long an important center of indigenous people. It was the capital of the Inca Empire (13th century – 1532). Many believe that the city was planned as an effigy in the shape of a puma, a sacred animal. How Cusco was specifically built, or how its large stones were quarried and transported to the site remain undetermined. Under the Inca, the city had two sectors: the hurin and hanan. Each was divided to encompass two of the four provinces, Chinchasuyu (NW), Antisuyu (NE), Kuntisuyu (SW) and Qullasuyu (SE). A road led from each quarter to the corresponding quarter of the empire.
Each local leader was required to build a house in the city and live part of the year in Cusco, restricted to the quarter that corresponded to the quarter in which he held territory. After the rule of Pachacuti, when an Inca died, his title went to one son and his property was given to a corporation controlled by his other relatives (split inheritance). Each title holder had to build a new house and add new lands to the empire in order to own land for his family to keep after his death.
According to Inca legend, the city was rebuilt by Sapa Inca Pachacuti, the man who transformed the Kingdom of Cusco from a sleepy city-state into the vast empire of Tawantinsuyu. Archeological evidence, however, points to a slower, more organic growth of the city beginning before Pachacuti. The city was constructed according to a definite plan in which two rivers were channeled around the city. Archeologists have suggested that this city plan was replicated at other sites.
The city fell to the sphere of Huáscar during the Inca Civil War after the death of Huayna Capac in 1528. It was captured by the generals of Atahualpa in April 1532 in the Battle of Quipaipan. Nineteen months later, Spanish explorers invaded the city after kidnapping and murdering Atahualpa (see Battle of Cuzco), and gained control.
Spanish conquest
The first three Spaniards arrived in the city in May 1533, after the Battle of Cajamarca, collecting for Atahualpa's Ransom Room. On 15 November 1533 Francisco Pizarro officially arrived in Cusco. "The capital of the Incas ... astonished the Spaniards by the beauty of its edifices, the length and regularity of its streets." The great square was surrounded by several palaces, since "each sovereign built a new palace for himself." Another member of the invading party recorded that "In the delicacy of the stone work, the natives far excelled the Spaniards." The fortress had three parapets and was composed of "heavy masses of rock". "Through the heart of the capital ran a river ... faced with stone. ... The most sumptuous edifice in Cuzco ... was undoubtedly the great temple dedicated to the Sun ... studded with gold plates ... surrounded by convents and dormitories for the priests. ... The palaces were numerous and the troops lost no time in plundering them of their contents, as well as despoiling the religious edifices", including the royal mummies in the Coricancha.
Pizarro ceremoniously gave Manco Inca the Incan fringe as the new Peruvian leader. Pizarro encouraged some of his men to stay and settle in the city, giving out repartimientos, or land grants to do so. Alcaldes were established and regidores on 24 March 1534, which included the brothers Gonzalo Pizarro and Juan Pizarro. Pizarro left a garrison of 90 men and departed for Jauja with Manco Inca.
Pizarro renamed it as the "very noble and great city of Cuzco". Buildings often constructed after the Spanish invasion have a mixture of Spanish influence and Inca indigenous architecture, including the Santa Clara and San Blas neighborhoods. The Spanish destroyed many Inca buildings, temples and palaces. They used the remaining walls as bases for the construction of a new city, and this stone masonry is still visible.
Father Vincente de Valverde became the Bishop of Cusco and built his cathedral facing the plaza. He supported construction of the Dominican Order monastery (Santo Domingo Convent) on the ruins of the Corichanca, House of the Sun, and a convent at the former site of the House of the Virgins of the Sun.
During the Siege of Cuzco of 1536 by Manco Inca Yupanqui, a leader of the Sapa Inca, he took control of the city from the Spanish. Although the siege lasted 10 months, it was ultimately unsuccessful. Manco's forces were able to reclaim the city for only a few days. He eventually retreated to Vilcabamba, the capital of the newly established small Neo-Inca State. There his state survived another 36 years but he was never able to return to Cuzco. Throughout the conflict and years of the Spanish colonization of the Americas, many Incas died of smallpox epidemics, as they had no acquired immunity to a disease by then endemic among Europeans.
Cusco was built on layers of cultures. The Tawantinsuyu (former Inca Empire) was built on Killke structures. The Spanish replaced indigenous temples with Catholic churches, and Inca palaces with mansions for the invaders.
Cusco was the center for the Spanish colonization and spread of Christianity in the Andean world. It became very prosperous thanks to agriculture, cattle raising and mining, as well as its trade with Spain. The Spanish colonists constructed many churches and convents, as well as a cathedral, university and archdiocese.
Colonial era
Urban development was interrupted by several earthquakes that devastated the city on more than one occasion. In 1650, a violent earthquake destroyed almost all the colonial-era buildings. During this earthquake, the effigy of the Lord of the Earthquakes gained great importance and is still carried in procession every year.
As a consequence of the 18th century Bourbon Reforms, the city of Cusco was convulsed by the large indigenous rebellion initiated by the cacique José Gabriel Condorcanqui, or Túpac Amaru II, who rose up against the Spanish administration. His army sieged the city in 1781. His uprising was suppressed after several months of fighting, during which he challenged the viceregal authorities stationed in Cusco. Túpac Amaru II was defeated, taken prisoner, and executed along with his entire family in the Plaza de Armas of Cusco. However, despite the execution of the rebellions main leaders, the rebellion persisted up until 1783, led by other leaders such as Túpac Katari and Diego Cristóbal. The chapel that served as the leader's prison still stands today, next to the Church of the Society of Jesus. This movement spread rapidly throughout the Andes and marked the beginning of the South American independence process. As a result of this revolution, the Royal Audiencia of Cusco was established, and a migration of prominent Spanish families to the cities of Lima and Arequipa ensued, fearing indigenous revolts. These migrations, together with the commercial decline generated by the creation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, which took away the city's leading role as a transit point for travelers and merchants, explained the decline that the city suffered in the 19th century.
In 1814, a new uprising against the viceregal administration occurred. The Cuzco Rebellion, initiated in 1814 by the Angulo brothers and Brigadier Mateo Pumacahua, a mestizo from Cusco who had fought against the forces of Túpac Amaru II, aimed to establish a governing junta in the city to unite the uprising with the process underway in Buenos Aires to achieve Peruvian Independence. It was suppressed by Viceroy Jose de Abascal y Souza in less than a year. Despite this rebellion, Cusco was the last royalist stronghold in Peru, maintaining its loyalty to the King of Spain until 1824, even though independence had been declared in 1821. Cusco became the last colonial capital during the rule of Viceroy José de la Serna, who held that position from this city between 31 December 1821, and December 1824. During this time, the Royal Army was stationed in Cusco, and other institutions such as the Mint and the printing press operated there.
Only after the defeat at the Battle of Ayacucho was known, on 22 December 1824, did the Cusco City Council recognize the capitulation of Ayacucho and accept Agustín Gamarra, a native of Cusco, as the new authority, who would hold the position of prefect. This brought an end to the colonial intendancy. On 25 December 1824, patriot troops entered the city under Gamarra's command, who received political authority from the last governor-intendant, Antonio María Álvarez, and prepared for the arrival of Simón Bolívar, who would reach Cusco in 1825.
Republican era
A major earthquake on 21 May 1950 damaged more than one third of the city's structures. The Dominican Priory and Church of Santo Domingo, which were built on top of the impressive Qurikancha (Temple of the Sun), were among the affected colonial era buildings. Inca architecture withstood the earthquake. Many of the old Inca walls were at first thought to have been lost after the earthquake, but the granite retaining walls of the Qurikancha were exposed, as well as those of other ancient structures throughout the city. Restoration work at the Santo Domingo complex exposed the Inca masonry formerly obscured by the superstructure without compromising the integrity of the colonial heritage. Many of the buildings damaged in 1950 had been impacted by an earthquake only nine years previously.In the 1990s, during the mayoral administration of Mayor Daniel Estrada Pérez, the city underwent a new process of beautification through the restoration of monuments and the construction of plazas, fountains and monuments. Likewise, thanks to the efforts of this authority, various recognitions were achieved, such as the declaration as "Historical Capital of Peru" contained in the text of the Political Constitution of Peru of 1993. It was also decided to change the coat of arms of Cusco, leaving aside the colonial coat of arms and adopting the Sol de Echenique as the new coat of arms. Additionally, the change of the official name of the city was proposed to adopt the Quechua word Qosqo, but this change was reversed a few years later.
Currently, Cusco is the most important tourist destination in Peru. Under the administration of mayor Daniel Estrada Pérez, a staunch supporter of the Academia Mayor de la Lengua Quechua, between 1983 and 1995 the Quechua name Qosqo was officially adopted for the city. Tourism in the city was drastically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru and the 2022–2023 Peruvian protests, with the latter event costing the area 10 million soles daily.
Honors
In 1933, the Congress of Americanists met in La Plata, Argentina, and declared the city as the Archeological Capital of the Americas.
In 1978, the 7th Convention of Mayors of Great World Cities met in Milan, Italy, and declared Cusco a Cultural Heritage of the World.
In 1983, UNESCO, in Paris, France, declared the city a World Heritage Site. The Peruvian government declared it the Tourism Capital of Peru and Cultural Heritage of the Nation.
In 2001, in Cusco, the south American Congress of Aldermen and Councillors awarded Cusco the title of Historical Capital of in south america.
In 2007 the Organización Capital Americana de la Cultura awarded Cusco the title of Cultural Capital of America.
In 2007, the New7Wonders Foundation designated Machu Picchu one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, following a worldwide poll.
Geography
Location
Cusco is located in the central Andes Mountains, found in southern Peru. Its elevation is around 3,400 m (11,200 ft). To its north is the Vilcabamba mountain range with 4,000–6,000-meter-high (13,000–20,000-foot) mountains. The highest peak is Salcantay (6,271 meters or 20,574 feet) about 60 kilometers (37 miles) northwest of Cusco.
Climate
Cusco has a subtropical highland climate (Köppen: Cwb, Trewartha: Cwll). It is generally dry and temperate, with two defined seasons. Winter occurs from April through September, with abundant sunshine and occasional nighttime frosts; July is the coldest month with an average of 9.7 °C (49.5 °F). Summer occurs from October through to March, with warm temperatures and abundant rainfall; November is the warmest month, averaging 13.3 °C (55.9 °F). Although frost and hail are common, the last reported snowfalls were in June 1911 and July 1968. Temperatures usually range from 0.2 to 20.9 °C (32.4 to 69.6 °F), but the all-time extreme temperature range is between −8.9 and 30 °C (16.0 and 86.0 °F). Sunshine hours peak in July, the equivalent of January in the Northern Hemisphere. In contrast, February, the equivalent of August in the Northern Hemisphere, has the least sunshine.
In 2006, Cusco was found to have the highest average ultraviolet light levels of any populated location on Earth.
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. Its participation in the trade routes during the viceroyalty guaranteed its political importance, as it remained the capital of the corregimiento established in these territories and, later, of the Intendancy of Cusco and, towards the end of the viceroyalty, of the Royal Audience of Cusco.
During the republic, Cusco's political role languished due to its isolation from the capital, coastline, and trade routes of the 19th and 20th centuries. However, it maintained its status as the main city in southern Peru, although subordinated to the importance that Arequipa was gaining, better connected with the rest of the country. Cusco has always remained the capital of the department of Cusco
Politically, according to the results of elections held in the second half of the 20th century, Cusco has been a stronghold of leftist parties in Peru. In the 1970s and 1980s, the socialist leader Daniel Estrada Pérez brought together this political tendency under the banner of the United Left alliance. Since his death, Cusco has been a major city for parties such as the Peruvian Nationalist Party and the Broad Front for Justice, Life and Liberty, as well as regional movements. Traditional Peruvian parties, such as the Peruvian Aprista Party and Acción Popular, have recorded eventual electoral victories, while those that represent a right-wing political position, such as the Popular Christian Party and Fujimorism itself, have had little presence among the elected authorities.
Demographics
The population reached 47,000 inhabitants in the 1840s. The city had a population of about 348,935 people in 2007 and 428,450 people in 2017 according to INEI.
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.