The Huari site of Pikillacta in the Cuzco valley, Peru, predated the rise of the Incas
by several centuries. Adriana von Hagen.At the height of Inca rule, Cuzco was a wealthy city that was planned and built
to highlight its profane and sacred connections to the heartland and beyond.
Royal roads emanating from a large plaza near its center led to four
administrative regions (suyu). This dual plaza was a multifunctional space where
the activities of the Aucaypata side could be observed by provincial elites and
non-Incas from the Cusipata side. Archaeological excavations in the plaza have
recovered wall foundations, platforms and subterranean canals, as well as
decorated Inca-style feasting ceramics and figurines made of gold, silver, and
Spondylus shell buried beneath a layer of Pacific coast sand. A line of four
miniature llamas was found oriented toward Huanacauri, a prominent
mountaintop in Inca origin stories.
Other important imperial monuments within urban Cuzco included the
Coricancha, the house of the acllacuna, and palaces for rulers, their wives, and
some siblings. The Coricancha was the central temple dedicated to the sun and
other deities, with a series of small temples within an enclosure built over Killke
remains. Urban palaces included internal domestic spaces for royal residents, as
well as water features and large halls (callanca) for public interactions with the
nobility. The fine masonry of these Inca buildings was constructed from stone