Cusco Cathedral on the Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru
Cusco Cathedral on the Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru (© sharptoyou/Shutterstock)
The crossroads of empires
Today, we're 11,000ft (3,350m) above sea level in the city of Cusco, in the Peruvian Andes. Cusco is considered to be the historical capital of Peru, something enshrined in the country's constitution. The city served as a capital for the Incan Empire in the three centuries before the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century.
© sharptoyou/Shutterstock