Cuzco, Peru

Cuzco is a high altitude city of moderate size. Its name, in the Quechua language, means "navel"; it was the capital and cultural center of the Tawantinsuyu - the Incan Empire.

After the fall of the Empire in the 16th century (1532) to the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, Spanish colonists invaded the city. The effects of colonisation are seen throughout the city's architecture where Spanish buildings are juxtaposed atop the massive stone walls built by the Inca.