the city of cuzco, at 3.400 mt above sea level, is located in a fertile alluvial valley fed by several rivers in the heart of the central peruvian andes of south america. under the rule of inca pachacuteq, in the 15th century, the city was redesigned and remodelled after a pre-Inca occupation process of over 3,000 years, and became the capital of the tawantinsuyu inca empire, which covered much of the south american andes between the 15th and 16th centuries ad. its quechua name, qosqo, means "navel of the world", because the city was the center that controlled a vast network of roads stretching from southern colombia to northern argentina. listed as a unesco world heritage in 1983
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