Cusco or Cuzco (; Latin American Spanish: [ˈkusko]; Quechua: Qusqu/Qosqo [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 and, later, of the 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.