The Inca road system was the most extensive and advanced transportation system in pre-Columbian South America. It was at least 40,000 kilometres (25,000 mi) long. The construction of the roads required a large expenditure of time and effort.
Momia Juanita, also known as the Lady of Ampato, is the well-preserved frozen body of an Inca girl who was killed as an offering to the Inca gods sometime between 1450 and 1480 when she was approximately 12–15 years old. She was discovered on Mount Ampato in southern Peru in 1995 by anthropologist Johan Reinhard and his Peruvian climbing partner, Miguel Zárate. "Juanita" has been on display in the Catholic University of Santa María's Museum of Andean Sanctuaries in Arequipa, Peru, almost continuously since 1996, and was displayed on a tour of Japan in 1999.
The Belmond Hotel Monasterio is a five-star hotel in Cusco, Peru. It is a refurbished Baroque seminary built in the 17th century on Inca foundations. The hotel is located two blocks from the Plaza de Armas.
The Incas were most notable for establishing the Inca Empire in pre-Columbian America, which was centered in what is now Peru from 1438 to 1533, and represented the height of the Inca civilization. The Inca state was known as the Kingdom of Cuzco before 1438. Over the course of the Inca Empire, the Inca used conquest and peaceful assimilation to incorporate the territory of modern-day Peru, followed by a large portion of western South America, into their empire, centered on the Andean mountain range. However, shortly after the Inca Civil War, the last Sapa Inca (emperor) of the Inca Empire was captured and killed on the orders of the conquistador Francisco Pizarro, marking the beginning of Spanish rule. The remnants of the empire retreated to the remote jungles of Vilcabamba and established the small Neo-Inca State, which was conquered by the Spanish in 1572.
Peruvian art has its origin in the Andean civilizations. These civilizations rose in the territory of modern Peru before the arrival of the Spanish.
Coricancha, Koricancha, Qoricancha or Qorikancha was the most important temple in the Inca Empire.
A kuraka or curaca was an official of the Inca Empire who held the role of magistrate, about 4 levels down from the Sapa Inca, the head of the Empire. The kurakas were the heads of the ayllus. They served as tax collector, and held religious authority, in that they mediated between the supernatural sphere and the mortal realm. They were responsible for making sure the spirit world blessed the mortal one with prosperity, and were held accountable should disaster strike, such as a drought.
Peruvian architecture is the architecture carried out during any time in what is now Peru, and by Peruvian architects worldwide. Its diversity and long history spans from ancient Peru, the Inca Empire, Colonial Peru to the present day.
The Cusco School or Cuzco School, was a Roman Catholic artistic tradition based in Cusco, Peru during the Colonial period, in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. It was not limited to Cuzco only, but spread to other cities in the Andes, as well as to present day Ecuador and Bolivia.
Quyllurit'i or Qoyllur R'iti is a syncretic religious festival held annually at the Sinakara Valley in the southern highlands Cusco Region of Peru. Local indigenous people of the Andes know this festival as a native celebration of the stars. In particular they celebrate the reappearance of the Pleiades constellation, known in Quechua as Qullqa, or "storehouse," and associated with the upcoming harvest and New Year. The Pleiades disappears from view in April and reappears in June. The new year is marked by indigenous people of the Southern Hemisphere on the Winter Solstice in June, and it is also a Catholic festival. The people have celebrated this period of time for hundreds if not thousands of years. The pilgrimage and associated festival was inscribed in 2011 on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.
The Andahuaylillas District is one of the twelve districts in the Quispicanchi Province in Peru. Created on January 2, 1857, its capital is the town of Andahuaylillas. It is located 45 km South of Cusco.
The Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin, also known as Cusco Cathedral, is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cusco. The cathedral is located on the Plaza de Armas. Building was completed in 1654, almost a hundred years after construction began.
Pachamama is a goddess revered by the indigenous people of the Andes. She is also known as the earth/time mother. In Inca mythology, Pachamama is a fertility goddess who presides over planting and harvesting, embodies the mountains, and causes earthquakes. She is also an ever-present and independent deity who has her own self-sufficient and creative power to sustain life on this earth. Her shrines are hallowed rocks, or the boles of legendary trees, and her artists envision her as an adult female bearing harvests of potatoes and coca leaves. The four cosmological Quechua principles – Water, Earth, Sun, and Moon – claim Pachamama as their prime origin. Priests sacrifice llamas, cuy, and elaborate, miniature, burned garments to her. After the conquest by Spain, which forced conversion to Roman Catholicism, the figure of the Virgin Mary became united with that of the Pachamama for many of the indigenous people. In pre-Hispanic culture, Pachamama is often a cruel goddess eager to collect her sacrifices. As Andean cultures form modern nations, Pachamama remains benevolent, giving, and a local name for Mother Nature. Thus, many in South America believe that problems arise when people take too much from nature because they are taking too much from Pachamama. Pachamama is the mother of Inti the sun god and Mama Killa the moon goddess. Pachamama is said to also be the wife of Inti, her son.
The Andean civilizations were a patchwork of different cultures and peoples that mainly developed in the coastal deserts of Peru. They stretched from the Andes of Colombia southward down the Andes to northern Argentina and Chile. Archaeologists believe that Andean civilizations first developed on the narrow coastal plain of the Pacific Ocean. The Norte Chico civilization of Peru is the oldest civilization in the Americas, dating back to 3200 BCE.
The Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús is a historic Jesuit church in Cusco, the ancient capital of the Inca Empire, in Cusco Region, Peru. It is situated in the Plaza de Armas de Cusco, the city center. It is built on an Inca palace. It is one of the best examples of Spanish Baroque architecture in Peru. The architecture of this building exerted a great influence on the development of Baroque architecture in the South Andes. Its construction began in 1576, but it was badly damaged in an earthquake in 1650. The rebuilt church was completed in 1668.
Juan Pérez de Bocanegra, T.O.S.F. was a Catholic priest and member of the Third Order of St. Francis, who was a musician, and specialist in the indigenous languages of colonial Peru.
Wiraqucha or Wiraquchan is a mountain in the Andes of Peru, about 3,600 metres (11,811 ft) high. It is situated in the Cusco Region, Quispicanchi Province, in the districts Andahuaylillas, Huaro and Urcos, south-east of the higher mountain named Quri and north-west of Huaro (Waru). The Willkanuta River flows along the mountain. The lake Quyllur Urmana lies at its feet.
The IncaDivide Race is an annual, self-supported, ultra-distance cycling race across Ecuador and Peru in South America organized by the french BikingMan organization. This is the first self-supported race to take place in South America. The inaugural edition route was about 3,500 kilometres (2,200 mi) long and went along some sections of the Qhapaq ñan, the legendary inca road network that was built by the Inca civilization. The main challenge of the race lies in its high altitude route and the challenging weather conditions of the Andes. All cyclists have to cycle across the Andes Cordillera with high passes above 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) on remote andean tracks and random road conditions. The inaugural race was held the 1st of July 2017. 17 athletes attempted to complete it but only 6 could reach the finish line. The fastest rider took less than 17 days to cycle from Quito to Cuzco.
