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: Arequipa, Peru. (2008). From Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia and from the Embassy of Peru)
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