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Free pictures of the Incas' Sacred Valley (El Valle Sagrado de los Incas), near Cusco, Peru. There are two other sets of Cusco pictures, one from walking around the city, and the other from the "City Tour".
The Sacred Valley (El Valle Sagrado de los Incas) is a valley in the Andes of Peru, close to the Inca capital of Cusco. It is fed by numerous rivers which descend through adjoining valleys and gorges, and contains numerous archaeological remains and villages. The valley was appreciated by the Incas due to its special geographical and climatic qualities. It was one of the empire's main points for the extraction of natural wealth, and the best place for maize production in Peru. The Sacred Valley is generally understood to include everything between Písac and Ollantaytambo, parallel to the Urubamba River, or River Vilcanota or Wilcamayu, as this Sacred river is called when passing through the valley.
Cusco (also Cuzco), and in the native Quechua language Qusqu, is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley (Sacred Valley) of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cusco Province. The city has a population of about 300,000, triple the population it contained just 20 years ago. The altitude of the city, located on the eastern end of the Knot of Cusco, is around 3,500 m (11,500 feet). The historic capital of the sun-worshipping Inca empire, it has been found in 2006 to be the spot on Earth with the highest ultraviolet light level.
(Adapted from: Cusco, Peru. (2008). From Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia)
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 01sacredvalley.jpg Photos of Cusco, enroute to the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 02sacredvalley.jpg Photo of Cusco, enroute to the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 03sacredvalley_.jpg Photos of indigenous market in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 04sacredvalley.jpg Photos of indigenous market in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 05sacredvalley_.jpg Pigs looking for food along the road in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 06sacredvalley_.jpg Photo of rugged Andes mountains bordering the Urubamba River in theInca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 07sacredvalley.jpg Photo of rugged Andes mountains bordering the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 08sacredvalleykkj.jpg OceansArt photographers Kristin, Kimberly and John near the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 09sacredvalley.jpg The rugged Andes mountains terraced above a village in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 10sacredvalley_.jpg Street markets in a village in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 11sacredvalley.jpg Street markets in a village in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 12sacredvalley_.jpg The rugged Andes mountains were terraced for farms by the Incas in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 13sacredvalley.jpg The rugged Andes mountains were terraced for farms by the Incas in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 14sacredvalley.jpg Photos of the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 15sacredvalley.jpg Path to an Incan temple in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 16sacredvalley.jpg Ruins of a guard post at an Incan temple in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 17sacredvalley.jpg Terraces beneath an Inca temple in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 18sacredvalley.jpg Path to an Incan temple in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 19sacredvalley_.jpg Excavation at ruins of an Incan temple in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 20sacredvalley.jpg Ruins of an Incan temple in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 21sacredvalley_.jpg Photo of rugged Andes mountains bordering the Urubamba River in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 22sacredvalley.jpg Waterway in the ruins of an Incan temple in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 23sacredvalley_.jpg Ruins of an Incan temple in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 24sacredvalley.jpg Photo of rugged Andes mountains bordering the Urubamba River in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 25sacredvalley_.jpg Ruins of an Incan temple in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 26sacredvalley.jpg Ruins of an Incan temple in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 27sacredvalley_.jpg Ruins of an Incan temple in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 28sacredvalley_.jpg Rugged Andes mountains bordering the Urubamba River in theInca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 29sacredvalley.jpg The Billy Bass musical fish has made it up the Urubamba River to the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 30sacredvalley.jpg Musicians playing songs of the Andes at lunch in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 31sacredvalley_.jpg popular 3 wheel vehicle near Cusco, Peru in the Inca Sacred Valley |
 32sacredvalley.jpg Photos of the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 Crops
drying in the sun in the
Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru
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 34sacredvalley_.jpg The Temple of the Sun in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 35sacredvalley.jpg The ruins of Inca buildings are on the mountainsides in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 36sacredvalley.jpg Stones were fitted together well enough to hold water, in temple buildings in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 37sacredvalley.jpg Tourists near a stone in an Inca ruin, showing the T shaped key used to keep buildings stable during earthquakes in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 38sacredvalley_.jpg Bull fight stadium in a village in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
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 39sacredvalley.jpg Water fountain in an Inca ruin in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
 40sacredvalley.jpg Bus causing a traffic jam in a village in the Inca Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru |
Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire. Many believe that the city was planned
to be shaped like a puma. A road led from each of the four quarters to the
corresponding quarter of the empire. Each local leader was required to build
a house in the city and live part of the year in Cusco, but only in the quarter
of Cusco that corresponded to the quarter of the empire he had territory in.
After Pachacuti, when an Inca died his title went to one son and his property
was given to a corporation controlled by his other relatives (a process called
split inheritance), so each title holder had to build a new house and add new
lands to the empire, in order to own the land his family needed to maintain
after his death.
The first Spaniards arrived in the city on November 15, 1533. Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, officially discovered Cusco on March 23, 1534, naming it the "Very noble and great city of Cusco". The many buildings constructed after the Spanish conquest are of Spanish influence with a mix of Inca architecture, including the Santa Clara and San Blas barrios. The Spanish undertook the construction of a new city on the foundations of the old Inca city, replacing temples with churches and palaces with mansions for the conquerors. During the colony, Cusco was very prosperous thanks to the agriculture, cattle raising, and mining as well as the trade with Spain. This allowed the construction of many churches and convents, and even a Cathedral, University and an Archbishopric. Often, Spanish buildings were juxtaposed atop the massive stone walls built by the Inca.
A major earthquake in 1950 badly destroyed the Dominican Priory and Church of Santo Domingo, which were built on top of the impressive Coricancha (Temple of the Sun). The city's Inca architecture, however, withstood the earthquake. Many of the old Inca walls were thought to have been lost after the earthquake, but the granite walls of the Coricancha were exposed, as well as many walls throughout the city. While some wanted to restore the buildings to their colonial splendor, a contingent of Cusco citizens urged city officials to retain the exposed walls. Eventually they won out. Cusco was also hit by a major earthquake in 1650.
(Adapted from: Cusco, Peru. (2008). From Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia and from the Embassy of Peru)
