Cusco, Peru

Cusco, Peru

Cusco is a city in southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It was the historic capital of the Inca Empire from the 13th century until the 16th-century Spanish conquest. Since 1976, the preferred local spelling of the city has been Cusco, to reflect current pronunciation in Spanish and Quechua. Since 1990, local authorities adopted Qosqo as the spelling, to be more closely aligned with theQuechua language.

About Cusco, Peru in brief

Summary Cusco, PeruCusco is a city in southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It was the historic capital of the Inca Empire from the 13th century until the 16th-century Spanish conquest. Since 1976, the preferred local spelling of the city has been Cusco, to reflect current pronunciation in Spanish and Quechua. Since 1990, local authorities adopted Qosqo as the spelling, to be more closely aligned with theQuechua language. The word is derived from the phrase qusqu wanka, related to the city’s foundation myth of the Ayar Siblings. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru, and, in 2017, it had a population of 428,450. Its elevation is around 3,400 m. The city was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO with the title \”City of Cuzco\”. It has become a major tourist destination, hosting nearly 2 million visitors a year. The Constitution of Peru designates it as the Historical Capital of Peru. The indigenous name of this city is Qusqu. The Killke people occupied the region from 900 to 1200 CE. In March 2008, archaeologists discovered the ruins of an ancient temple and aqueduct system at Swayaman. The Inca later expanded and occupied the complex in the13th century and later occupied the area until the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in 16th century. In English-language publications both \”s\” and \”z\” can be found.

The Oxford Dictionary of English and Merriam-Webster Dictionary prefer \”Cuzco” The city’s international airport code is CUZ, reflecting the earlier Spanish spelling. The name is used more often than in scholarly writings than in more often used English. There is no international, official spelling for the city, but there is an official spelling of Qosquo, which is used in the local media and on official documents and chronicles. The Spanish pronunciation of ‘z’ is no longer universally close to the QueChua pronunciation. In 1976 the city mayor signed an ordinance banning the traditional spelling and ordering the use of a new one, Cus co, in municipality publications. In 1990, the local authorities formalized a new spelling related more closely to QuechUA: QosQo. Although the name was used in Southern Que chua, its origin is found in the Aymara language. It is said that they took the maize from the cave, which this lord Manco Capac named Pacaritambo, which means those of origin because… they came out of that cave. Later MancoCapac went down with Ayar Auca to their settlement. He liked the place now occupied in this city Cuz co. He named the settlement Pacar itambo, because of the origin of the cave. He returned and told Ayar Manco that from then on he was to be named Manco capac.