The Incas adopted Cusco as its sacred capital in AD 1438, giving it the name Qosqo, meaning ‘bellybutton’ or ‘navel of the world’.   Its rise in popularity as an important centre coincided with the emperor Pachacuti coming to power, at a time when the Incas were really making themselves known throughout South America.

Even though the Incas were around for over 300 years, the mark they made on the history books was only really during the last 100 years of these.  Prior to the Inca Empire, it was different cultures that dominated society – the Moche, Nazca and Tiahuanuc.  Each culture was characterised by their architecture, ceramics, jewellery or textiles, which are marked with their specific symbols and patterns.  These cultures coexisted simultaneously for hundreds of years, usually peacefully, but in later years the Tiahuanuco culture became particularly dominant throughout most of Peru.  Various tribes developed within these cultures and internal war faring soon caused the Tiahuanuco culture to slowly disappear.  It was replaced by a number of small empires along the coast, the most notable being the Chimu who constructed the Chan Chan complex near Trujillo.  Inland, three tribes developed, including the Incas who, under the rule of Manco Capac established themselves at Cusco around AD1200.  It took the Incas over 200 years to develop from a large tribal unit into an Empire.

Once established, the Inca Empire quickly became the largest and most powerful ever witnessed in South America.  The name Inca originally applied only to the Emperor, but nowadays refers to the whole nation of some 20 million Indians.  At their peak, the Incas ruled over territory stretching 5500km from southern Colombia to the Maule River in central Chile, and eastwards as far as the fringes of the Amazon Basin.

Many aspects of the organisation and structure of Inca society were inherited from previous cultures. Using the existing cultures and tribes, utilising buildings and towns, the Incans developed on what was already there.  That’s not to say the Inca’s relied totally on what had been before them and they set about constructing huge fortresses, urban and agricultural centres and temples.

The Incas have become world famous for their impressive architecture.  They developed a system of carving massive, multi-angled stone blocks with remarkable precision.  The stone used was often very hard igneous rock, like granite, which is particularly difficult to cut.  Although these blocks are all irregularly shaped, they interlock perfectly.  The walls were designed to withstand the considerable seismic activity common in the Andes.

Wandering around the city centre we caught glimpses of this famous Inca legacy – cobbled streets lined with the remains of the exquisite Inca architecture.  In many cases more modern buildings had been constructed right on top, and next to the Incan stonewalls.

When the Spanish arrived in Peru in 1526, under the command of Francisco Pizzaro, it heralded the demise of the Incan Empire.  Impressed by the extensive mineral deposits of the Inca Empire, Pizzaro sailed back to Spain to recruit an army of fortune hunters.  The Inca were warriors, with a strong and powerful army but they were no match for the 160 Spanish guns Pizzaro had enlisted and they quickly crushed a 40,000 strong Inca force.

In 1532, the Inca leader, Atahualpa was ambushed and held for ransom, but even 20 tons of silver and gold failed to buy the release of the captured Inca leader.  In 1533 Atahualpa was ‘tried’ and executed. By 1535, the Inca society was completely overthrown.  In the same year Pizzaro founded the city of Lima, which quickly replaced Cusco as the major economic centre for the Andean nations.  The new Inca ruler Manco Inca managed to escape from Cusco with an army of 50,000 and held out until 1572 when the resistance ended with his capture and beheading after a failed rebellion. 

In the process of defeating the Incas, the Spanish managed to dismantle most of the Incan temples, fortresses and fine buildings.  The introduction of their own architectural ideas involved knocking down structures and using the stones for their new buildings, often just placing their new buildings on top of existing foundations.

This is no more apparent than at the church of Santo Domingo.  Also known as Coricancha, it is a fine example of the Spanish culture imposing on Incan history.  The church comprises of a wonderful courtyard, in the centre of which is an octagonal grey-stone coffer.  Known as the Cusco Car Urumi (the Uncovered Naval Stone), it supposedly represented the centre of a field planted by the Incans with corn fashioned out of pure gold.  The stone was particularly symbolic and had been surrounded by numerous Incan temples.  The Spanish proceeded to build the church around it, plundering the 55kg of gold that once covered the stone.  The Inca site was forgotten until an earthquake in 1951 that demolished the church, exposing the earthquake resistant Inca block foundations beneath it.

Article taken from Inca Hoots by Caius Simmons & Vicky Brewis.

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