Cuzco, capital of the Inca empire

Nestling in the southeastern Andes, the city of Cuzco is Peru's premier tourist attractions and one of the main destinations in the Americas. Held to be the abode of the gods by the Incas, Cuzco was the capital of the great pre-Colombian empires: the Tahuantinsuyu.

Its name in Quechua, the Inca language, means "the naval of the world", as it was the hub of a network of roads that spanned much of South America, ranging from as far north as Colombia down to northern Chile and Argentina.