Cusco

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. …

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. Cusco was long an important center of indigenous people. It was the capital of the Inca Empire (13th century – 1532). …

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. 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. …

Due to its antiquity and significance, the center of the city preserves many buildings, squares and streets from pre-Columbian times as well as colonial constructions. That is why the city was declared in 1972 as Cultural Heritage of the Nation by Supreme Resolution No. 2900-72-ED. In 1983, during the VII session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, it was decided to declare this area as a World Heritage Site by establishing a central zone that constitutes the World Heritage Site proper and a buffer zone. …

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. Tourism has been important to the Cusco economy since the early 2000s, bringing in more than 1.2 million tourists per year. In 2019, Cusco was the region that reached the highest number of tourists in Peru with more than 2.7 million tourists. In 2002, the income Cusco received from tourism was US$837 million. In 2009, that number increased to US$2.47 billion. …

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.