Cusco

Cusco is a city in southeastern Peru near the Sacred Valley of the Andes, capital of the eponymous Cusco Region and Cusco Province, and historically one of the largest cultural, economic and political centers of the country. It was inhabited by the Killke culture as early as the 10th century, and the Inca ruler Manco Capac founded it in the 12th century as capital of the Kingdom of Cusco and later the Inca Empire, with the fortress of Sacsayhuaman built above the city in the 11th century. Spanish forces conquered the region in the 16th century and reestablished the city in 1534, building much of colonial Cusco directly over Inca monuments. UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site in 1983, and the Constitution of Peru designates it the country's Historical Capital. Cusco had a population of 428,450 in 2017, the seventh most populous city in Peru and the largest in the Peruvian Andes, at an elevation of about 3,400 meters, and it now draws more than 2 million visitors a year as the gateway to Inca ruins including Machu Picchu.