- published: 21 Sep 2006
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- author: Peter Henningsen
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Acaray
For the hydroelectic power plant and HVDC-back-to-back facility in Paraguay, see Acaray Power Plant
Acaray, also known as the Fortress of Acaray, is an archaeological site located in the Huaura River Valley on the near north coast of Peru (or the Norte Chico). The impressive fortress is located on a series of three hilltops, each ringed with a number of perimeter defensive walls that have parapets and bastions, which stand as testaments to the military nature of the site. Surrounding the hilltop fortress are lower-lying areas of occupation and extensive cemeteries that have been heavily looted.
Attention was called to the site early on by the German archaeologist Hans Horkheimer, who wrote about Acaray in 1962 in the Peruvian magazine, Caretas, published in Lima. Calling it the Fortaleza de Huaura (the Fortress of Huaura), he deemed Acaray to be a true fortress, unlike the more well-known neighboring site of Paramonga in the Pativilca River Valley, whose defensive nature has been questioned. Horkheimer noted the abundance of rolled river cobbles on the surface of the site which were likely used as projectiles or slingstones.
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Arequipa
Coordinates: 16°23′55.76″S 71°32′12.79″W / 16.3988222°S 71.5368861°W / -16.3988222; -71.5368861
Arequipa (Spanish pronunciation: [aɾeˈkipa]) is the capital city of the Arequipa Region in southern Peru. With a population of 836,859 it is the second most populous city of the country. Arequipa lies in the Andes mountains, at an altitude of 2,335 meters (7,661 ft) above sea level; the former snow-capped volcano El Misti overlooks the city.
The city has many colonial-era Spanish buildings built of sillar, a pearly white volcanic rock, from which it gets the nickname La Ciudad Blanca ("The White City"). Reportedly, it first acquired this nickname in the colonial era, because most of its inhabitants were Creole of Iberian descent. The historic centre of Arequipa was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000, in recognition of its architecture and historic integrity.
Soon after its founding, the city became a major commercial hub of southern Peru, accumulating commercial and administrative functions. In times of the Viceroyalty of Peru it was an important economic hub in southern Peru. It played a significant role in the history of the Republic of Peru, declaring itself "Capital of the Republic" during the government of Montero. Arequipa has also been home of many of the outstanding intellectual and political figures, as well as religious icons, in the country. In recent decades it has become an important industrial and commercial center in Peru, now being the second most industrialized city in Perú.
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Bethlehem
Bethlehem (Arabic: بيت لحم
Bayt Laḥm (help·info) or Bēt Laḥm, lit "House of Flesh"; Hebrew: בֵּית לֶחֶם Bēṯ Leḥem, Modern: Bet Leḥem, IPA: [bet ˈleχem], lit "House of Bread;" Greek: Βηθλεὲμ, Vithleém) is a Palestinian city located in the central West Bank and approximately 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism. The Hebrew Bible identifies Bethlehem as the city David was from and the location where he was crowned as the king of Israel. The New Testament identifies Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. The town is inhabited by one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, although the size of the community has shrunk due to emigration.
The city was sacked by the Samaritans in 529, but rebuilt by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. Bethlehem was conquered by the Arab Caliphate of 'Umar ibn al-Khattāb in 637, who guaranteed safety for the city's religious shrines. In 1099, Crusaders captured and fortified Bethlehem and replaced its Greek Orthodox clergy with a Latin one. The Latin clergy were expelled after the city was captured by Saladin, the sultan of Egypt and Syria. With the coming of the Mamluks in 1250, the city's walls were demolished, and were subsequently rebuilt during the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
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Bolivia
Coordinates: 16°42′43″S 64°39′58″W / 16.712°S 64.666°W / -16.712; -64.666 Bolivia (
i/bəˈlɪviə/, Spanish: [boliˈβja]) officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia (Spanish: Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia, Quechua: Bulivya Mamallaqta, Aymara: Wuliwya Suyu), is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, Chile to the southwest, and Peru to the west.
Prior to European colonization, the Andean region of Bolivia was a part of the Inca Empire – the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century. During most of the Spanish colonial period, this territory was called Upper Peru and was under the administration of the Viceroyalty of Peru, which included most of Spain's South American colonies. After declaring independence in 1809, 16 years of war followed before the establishment of the Republic, named for Simón Bolívar, on 6 August 1825. Bolivia has struggled through periods of political instability, dictatorships and economic woes.
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Brazil
Brazili/brəˈzɪl/ (Portuguese: Brasil, IPA: [bɾaˈziw]), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil, listen (help·info)), is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people. It is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas and the largest lusophone country in the world.
Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 km (4,655 mi). It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and the French overseas region of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos form part of Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz. It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile.
Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until 1815, when it was elevated to the rank of kingdom and the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was formed. The colonial bond was in fact broken in 1808, when the capital of the Portuguese colonial empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, after Napoleon invaded Portugal.Independence was achieved in 1822 with the formation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The country became a presidential republic in 1889, when a military coup d'état proclaimed the Republic, although the bicameral legislature, now called Congress, dates back to the ratification of the first constitution in 1824. Its current Constitution, formulated in 1988, defines Brazil as a Federal Republic. The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities.
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Cahuachi
Coordinates: 14°49′7″S 75°7′0″W / 14.81861°S 75.116667°W / -14.81861; -75.116667
Cahuachi, in Peru, was a major ceremonial center of the Nazca culture, based from 1 CE to about 500 CE in the coastal area of the Central Andes. It overlooked some of the Nazca lines. The Italian archaeologist Giuseppe Orefici has been excavating at the site for the past few decades . The site contains over 40 mounds topped with adobe structures. The huge architectural complex covers 0.6 sq. miles (1.5 km2). The American archeologist Helaine Silverman has also conducted long term, multi-stage research and written about the full context of Nazca society at Cahuachi, published in a lengthy study in 1993.
Scholars once thought the site was the capital of the Nazca state but have determined that the permanent population was quite small. They believe that it was a pilgrimage center, whose population increased greatly in relation to major ceremonial events. New research has suggested that 40 of the mounds were natural hills modified to appear as artificial constructions. Support for the pilgrimage theory comes from archaeological evidence of sparse population at Cahuachi, the spatial patterning of the site, and ethnographic evidence from the Virgin of Yauca pilgrimage in the nearby Ica Valley (Silverman 1994).
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Cajamarquilla
The Cajamarquilla archaeological site is located 25 km inland from the coastal city of Lima, Peru; in the Jicamarca Valley, 6 km north of the Rímac River. It occupies an area of approximately 167 ha, making it one of the largest archaeological monuments in the country. The site itself is now surrounded by several small villages which are encroaching upon, and threatening, its largely unfenced perimeter - despite its nationally 'protected' status.
Cajamarquilla is an 'adobe' city, which served as an important trading center during the height of the Lima Culture. It was occupied throughout the first millennium of the current era, but climate change and natural disasters (e.g. earthquakes) eventually led to its abandonment several hundred years before the Spanish conquest. Situated in a then fertile valley on a major trade route between the 'altiplano' region of the high Andes and the coastal communities of the Pacific coast, Cajamarquilla became a sophisticated center for culture, religion, and commerce. At the site, it is possible to observe the remains of temple pyramids, wide streets, ceremonial squares, cemeteries, underground grain silos, canals, and numerous other enclosures and buildings; many of unidentified use — all constructed using 'tapial' methods (i.e. mud brick and plaster).
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Caral
Caral, or Caral-Supe, was a large settlement in the Supe Valley, near Supe, Barranca province, Peru, some 200 km north of Lima. Caral is the most ancient city of the Americas, and is a well-studied site of the Caral civilization or Norte Chico civilization.
Caral was inhabited between roughly 2600 BCE and 2000 BCE, enclosing an area of more than 60 hectares. Caral was described by its excavators as the oldest urban center in the Americas, a claim that was later challenged as other ancient sites were found nearby. Accommodating more than 3,000 inhabitants, it is the best studied and one of the largest Norte Chico sites known.
Paul Kosok discovered Caral in 1948, but it received little attention until recently because it appeared to lack many typical artifacts that were sought at archeological sites throughout the Andes at the time. Archaeologist Ruth Shady further explored the 5,000 year-old city of pyramids in the Peruvian desert, with its elaborate complex of temples, an amphitheater and ordinary houses. The urban complex is spread out over 150 acres (607,000 m²) and contains plazas and residential buildings. Caral was a thriving metropolis at roughly the same time that Egypt's great pyramids were being built.
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Chan Chan
Coordinates: 8°6′38″S 79°4′30″W / 8.11056°S 79.075°W / -8.11056; -79.075
The largest Pre-Columbian city in South America, Chan Chan is an archaeological site located in the Peruvian region of La Libertad, five km west of Trujillo. Chan Chan covers an area of approximately 20 km² and had a dense urban center of about 6 km². Chan Chan was constructed by the Chimor (the kingdom of the Chimú), a late intermediate period civilization which grew out of the remnants of the Moche civilization. The vast adobe city of Chan Chan was built by the Chimu around AD 850 and lasted until its conquest by the Inca Empire in AD 1470. It was the imperial capital of the Chimor until it was conquered in the 15th century. It is estimated that around 30,000 people lived in the city of Chan Chan.
Chan Chan was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. The city is severely threatened by storms from El Niño, which cause heavy rains and flooding on the Peruvian coast. It is in a fertile, well-watered section of the coastal plain. The city's ruins are additionally threatened by earthquakes and looters. Present-day visitors to Chan Chan can enter the Tschudi Complex, believed to be one of the later citadels built in the city. There are also several other Chimú and Moche ruins in the area around Trujillo. This site was discovered by the Conquistador Francisco Pizarro.
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Chavín de Huantar
Coordinates: 9°35′33.99″S 77°10′42.43″W / 9.592775°S 77.1784528°W / -9.592775; -77.1784528
Chavín de Huántar is an archaeological site containing ruins and artifacts constructed beginning at least by 1200 BCE and occupied by later cultures until around 400-500 BCE by the Chavín, a major pre-Inca culture. The site is located 250 kilometers (160 mi) north of Lima, Peru, at an elevation of 3,180 meters (10,430 ft), east of the Cordillera Blanca at the start of the Conchucos Valley. Chavín de Huántar has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Some of the Chavín relics from this archaeological site are on display in the Museo de la Nación in Lima and the Museo Nacional de Chavín in Chavin itself.
Occupation at Chavín de Huántar has been carbon dated to at least 3000 BCE, with ceremonial center activity occurring primarily toward the end of the second millennium, and through the middle of the first millennium BCE. While the fairly large population was based on an agricultural economy, the city's location at the headwaters of the Marañón River, between the coast and the jungle, made it an ideal location for the dissemination and collection of both ideas and material goods. This archeological site is a large ceremonial center that has revealed a great deal about the Chavín culture. Chavín de Huántar served as a gathering place for people of the region to come together and worship. The transformation of the center into a valley-dominating monument had a complex effect; it became a pan-regional place of importance. People went to Chavin de Huantar as a center: to attend and participate in rituals, consult an oracle, or enter a cult.
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Chimbote
Chimbote [tʃimˈbote] (
listen) is the largest city in the Ancash Region of Peru, and the capital of both Santa Province and Chimbote District.
The city is located on the coast in Chimbote Bay, south of Trujillo and 420 kilometers (260 mi) north of Lima on the North Pan-American highway. It is the start of a chain of important cities like Trujillo, Chiclayo and Piura. The advantages of this geographic location made Chimbote into a transshipment junction for the Santa River valley.
In 1835, when General Santa Cruz granted Chimbote's first official acknowledgement, Chimbote was a village of fishermen with a population of no more than 800.
In 1871, an agreement was made with Henry Meiggs to build a railroad towards the interior of the country. Chimbote was classified as a port, even though its population remained around 1,000. The opening of the Pan-American Highway created easy access to Lima in the 1930s.
In 1940, Chimbote was still a small fishing port, with only 2,400 inhabitants in an urbanized area of 80 hectares (0.80 km2; 0.31 sq mi). In 1943, the government created the Corporación Peruana del Santa (Peruvian Corporation of Santa). This entity assumed ownership of the railroad, made improvements to the port, and began work on a hydroelectric power station on the Río Santa (in the Cañón del Pato [Duck Canyon] in Huallanca). The first stage of the power station was inaugurated in 1958; also that year, an iron and steel plant was built. By 1943, the first companies dedicated to the extraction of liver from the Pacific bonito fish arrived. This liver was sold for a high price abroad due to World War II.
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China
China (i/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.
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Chincha Alta
Chincha Alta is a Peruvian city located in the Ica Region. It is the capital of Chincha Province.
The City of Chincha Alta is located 200 kilometers south of Lima, in the Chincha Province of the Ica Region of Peru. The city covers an area of 2988 km² and has a population of 177,000.
The first inhabitants of the area arrived at the beginning of the ninth century. These people are known as the "Pre-Chincha". The historian Luis Cánepa Pachas puts the date of the arrival of the Pre-Chincha at sometime in the tenth century. The rudimentary Pre-Chincha culture was centered around fishing and shell gathering. The origin of the Pre-Chincha people is still uncertain.
In the eleventh century, a more advanced and warlike people known as the Chincha arrived in the coastal area. The Chincha had developed systems of architecture, agriculture and irrigation. The Chincha came to dominate the original inhabitants of the area. Some aspects of the original Pre-Chincha culture were absorbed by the newcomers. The word Chincha is derived from “Chinchay” or “Chinchas” or “Cinca” which mean "Jaguar" in the native language. The Chincha worshiped a jaguar god, and believed themselves to be descended from jaguars, who gave them their warlike and dominating tendencies. The Chincha fertilized their fields with dead birds and guano, and this knowledge was passed on to later peoples. The Chincha learned seafaring skills from the Pre-Chincha, and may have traveled as far as Central America by boat.
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Choquequirao
Choquequirao (Southern Quechua: Chuqi K'iraw, "Cradle of Gold" or Choqek'iraw) is a ruined Inca city in south Peru, similar in structure and architecture to Machu Picchu. The ruins are buildings and terraces at levels above and below Sunch'u Pata, the truncated hill top. The hilltop was anciently leveled and ringed with stones to create a 30 by 50 m platform.
Choquequirao (3,050 m) is in the spurs of the Salkantay Mountain Range in the Province La Convención in the Cusco region above the valley of river Río Apurímac. The complex is 1,800 hectares, of which 30–40% is excavated.
The site is reached by a two-day hike from outside Cusco.
The site was built by Tupac Inca Yupanqui (1471-1493) and Huayna Capac (1493-1527). It was one of the last bastions of resistance and refuge of the Son of the Sun (the "Inca"), Manco Inca Yupanqui, who fled Cusco after his siege of the city failed in 1535.
According to the Peruvian Tourism Office, "Choquequirao was probably one of the entrance check points to the Vilcabamba, and also an administrative hub serving political, social and economic functions. Its urban design has followed the symbolic patterns of the imperial capital, with ritual places dedicated to the Sun (Inti) and the ancestors, to the earth, water and other divinities, with mansions for administrators and houses for artisans, warehouses, large dormitories or kallankas and farming terraces belonging to the Inca or the local people. Spreading over 700 meters, the ceremonial area drops as much as 65 meters from the elevated areas to the main square." The city also played an important role as a link between the Amazon Jungle and the city of Cusco.
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Copán
Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. It was the capital city of a major Classic period kingdom from the 5th to 9th centuries AD. The city was located in the extreme southeast of the Mesoamerican cultural region, on the frontier with the Isthmo-Colombian cultural region, and was almost surrounded by non-Maya peoples. In this fertile valley now lies a city of about 3000, a small airport, and a winding road.
Copán was occupied for more than two thousand years, from the Early Preclassic period right through to the Postclassic. The city developed a distinctive sculptural style within the tradition of the lowland Maya, perhaps to emphasize the Maya ethnicity of the city's rulers.
The city has a historical record that spans the greater part of the Classic period and has been reconstructed in detail by archaeologists and epigraphers. Copán, probably called Oxwitik by the Maya, was a powerful city ruling a vast kingdom within the southern Maya area. The city suffered a major political disaster in AD 738 when Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil, one of the greatest kings in Copán's dynastic history, was captured and executed by his former vassal, the king of Quiriguá. This unexpected defeat resulted in a 17-year hiatus at the city, during which time Copán may have been subject to Quiriguá in a reversal of fortunes.
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Coricancha
The Coricancha or Qorikancha (from the Quechua words Quri Kancha meaning "Golden Temple"), originally named Inti Kancha ("Temple of the Sun") or Inti Wasi ("Sun House"), was the most important temple in the Inca Empire, dedicated primarily to Inti, the Sun God. It was one of the most revered temples of the capital city of Cusco.
The walls and floors were once covered in sheets of solid gold, and its adjacent courtyard was filled with golden statues. Spanish reports tell of its opulence that was "fabulous beyond belief". When the Spanish required the Inca to raise a ransom in gold for the life of the leader Atahualpa, most of the gold was collected from Coricancha.
The Spanish colonists built the Church of Santo Domingo on the site, demolishing the temple and using its foundations for the cathedral. Construction took most of a century. This is one of numerous sites where the Spanish incorporated Inca stonework into the structure of a colonial building. Major earthquakes severely damaged the church, but the Inca stone walls, built out of huge, tightly-interlocking blocks of stone, still stand due to their sophisticated stone masonry. Nearby is an underground archaeological museum, which contains numerous interesting pieces, including mummies, textiles, and sacred idols from the site. The site now also includes the Church and Convent of Santo Domingo.
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Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, (i/ˈkjuːbə/; Spanish: República de Cuba, pronounced: [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa] ( listen)) is an island country in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. To the north of Cuba lies the United States (140 km or 90 mi away) and the Bahamas, Mexico is to the west, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica are to the south, and Haiti and the Dominican Republic are to the southeast.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on and claimed the island now occupied by Cuba, for the Kingdom of Spain. Cuba remained a territory of Spain until the Spanish–American War ended in 1898, and gained formal independence from the U.S. in 1902. A fragile democracy, increasingly dominated by radical politics eventually evolved, solidified by the Cuban Constitution of 1940, but was definitely quashed in 1952 by former president Fulgencio Batista, and an authoritarian regime was set up, intensifying and catalyzing already rampant corruption, political repression and crippling economic regulations.Batista was ousted in January 1959 by the July 26 movement, and a new administration under Fidel Castro established, which had by 1965 evolved into a single-party state under the revived Communist Party of Cuba, which holds power to date.
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Cumbe Mayo
Cumbe Mayo is located about 12 miles (19 km) southwest of the Peruvian city of Cajamarca, at an elevation of approximately 11,000 feet (3,300 meters). The location is best known for the ruins of a Pre-Incan aqueduct stretching approximately five miles in length. The aqueduct collected water from the Atlantic watershed and redirected it on its way to the Pacific Ocean. It is thought to have been constructed around 1500 B.C. and was once thought to be the oldest existing man-made structure in South America. The name Cumbe Mayo may be derived from a Quechua phrase, kumpi mayu, meaning “well-made water channel,” or humpi mayo, meaning “thin river.”
There are a number of petroglyphs on the aqueduct and surrounding caverns.
This remote mountainous region is also the location of a "stone forest" composed of natural volcanic rocks which have been shaped by erosion. These formations of volcanic rock are also known as Los Frailones, or the Stone Monks.
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Cusco
Cusco ( /ˈkuːzkoʊ/), often spelled Cuzco (Spanish: Cuzco, IPA: [ˈkuθko] or [ˈkusko]; Quechua: Qusqu or Qosqo, IPA: [ˈqɔsqɔ]), is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cuzco Province. In 2007, the city had a population of 358,935 which was triple the figure of 20 years ago. Located on the eastern end of the Knot of Cuzco, its elevation is around 3,400 m (11,200 ft).
Cusco was the site of the historic capital of the Inca Empire and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983 by UNESCO. It is a major tourist destination and receives almost 2 million visitors a year. It is designated as the Historical Capital of Peru by the Constitution of Peru.
The aboriginal name of this city was Qusqu. Although it was used in Quechua, its origin has been found in the Aymara language. The word itself originated in the phrase qusqu wanka ('Rock of the owl'), attending to the foundational myth of the Ayar Siblings. According to this legend, Ayar Auca (Ayar Awqa) got wings and flew to the site of the future city and transformed into a rock to mark the possession of the land by his ayllu ('linage').
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Cusco District
Cusco is a district in northern Cusco Province in Peru. It is bordered by districts of Ccorca and Poroy on the west, provinces of Anta, Calca and Urubamba on the north, San Jerónimo District on the east, and districts of Santiago and San Sebastián on the south.
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Ecuador
Ecuador (i/ˈɛkwədɔr/ E-kwə-dawr), officially the Republic of Ecuador (Spanish: República del Ecuador [reˈpuβlika ðel ekwaˈðor], which literally translates to the "Republic of the Equator") is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, (along with Chile), that do not have a border with Brazil. The country also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) west of the mainland.
The main spoken language in Ecuador is Spanish. Ecuador straddles the equator, from which it takes its name, and has an area of 275,830 km2 (106,500 sq mi). Its capital city is Quito, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the 1970s for having the best preserved and least altered historic center in Latin America. The country's largest city is Guayaquil. The historic center of Cuenca, the third largest city in the country, was also declared a World Heritage Site in 1999, for being an outstanding example of a planned inland Spanish style colonial city in the Americas. Ecuador is also home—despite its size—to a great variety of species, many of them endemic, like those of the Galápagos islands. This species diversity makes Ecuador one of the 17 megadiverse countries in the world. The new constitution of 2008 is the first in the world to recognize legally enforceable Rights of Nature, or ecosystem rights.
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France
France (Englishi/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km2 (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km2 / 4,383,000 sq mi).
Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.
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Greece
Greecei/ˈɡriːs/ (Greek: Ελλάδα, Ellada, IPA: [eˈlaða] ( listen) historically in Katharevousa and Ancient Greek: Ἑλλάς, Hellas, IPA: [eˈlas] and [helːás] respectively), officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Elliniki Dimokratia, IPA: [eliniˈci ðimokraˈtia]), is a country in Southern Europe, politically considered part of Western Europe.Athens is the capital and the largest city in the country (its urban area also including Piraeus). The population of the country is around 11 million.
Greece has land borders with Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km (8,498 mi) in length, featuring a vast number of islands (approximately 1,400, of which 227 are inhabited), including Crete, the Dodecanese, the Cyclades, and the Ionian Islands among others. Eighty percent of Greece consists of mountains, of which Mount Olympus is the highest at 2,917 m (9,570 ft).
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Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was at times referred to as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize. The country is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea.
Honduras was home to several important indigenous cultures, most notably the Maya. Much of the country was conquered by Spain who introduced its predominant language and many of its customs in the sixteenth century. It became independent in 1821 and has been a republic since the end of Spanish rule.
Its size is just over 112,492 km² with an estimated population of almost eight million. Its capital is Tegucigalpa. Its northern portions are part of the Western Caribbean Zone.
It is notable for its production of minerals, tropical fruit, and recently for exportation of clothing for the international market.
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Huaca de la Luna
Huaca de la Luna ("Temple/Shrine of the Moon") is a large adobe brick structure built mainly by the Moche people of northern Peru. Along with the Huaca del Sol, the Huaca de la Luna is part of Huacas de Moche, which is the remains of an ancient Moche capital city called Cerro Blanco.
The Huacas de Moche site is located 4 km outside the modern city of Trujillo, near the mouth of the Moche River valley. The Huaca de la Luna, though it is the smaller of the two huacas at the site, yields the most archaeological information. The Huaca del Sol was partially destroyed and looted by Spanish conquistadors in the 17th century, while the Huaca de la Luna was left relatively untouched. It is believed today that the Huaca del Sol may have been more administrative, military, residential and burial mound for the Moche elite, while the Huaca de la Luna served a largely ceremonial and religious function, though it contains burials as well. Though today the Huaca de la Luna is colored the soft brown of its adobe brickwork, just after its construction it would have been an impressive site to behold. The huaca was decorated in registers of murals which were painted in black, bright red, sky blue, white, and yellow. The sun and weather has since faded these murals away, but other murals used in earlier phases of construction can still be seen inside the Huaca. Many of these depict a deity now known as Ayapec. "Ayapec" is a pre-Quechua word translating as all knowing. "Wrinkle-Face" is the name given to another deity by the later Inca because of the deity's appearance.
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Huaca del Sol
The Huaca del Sol is an adobe brick temple built by the Moche civilization on the coast of what is now Peru. The temple is one of several ruins found near the peak of Cerro Blanco, in the coastal desert near Trujillo, Peru. The other major ruin at the site is the nearby Huaca de la Luna, a better-preserved but smaller temple.
By 450 CE, eight different stages of construction had been completed on the Huaca del Sol. The construction of the temple was additive; new layers of brick were laid directly on top of the old, hence large quantities of bricks were required for its construction. It has been estimated by archaeologists that the Huaca del Sol was composed of over 130 million adobe bricks and was the largest pre-Columbian adobe structure built in the Americas. The number of different makers' marks on the bricks suggests that over a hundred different communities contributed bricks to the construction of the Huacas.
The Huaca del Sol was composed of four main levels and the structure was expanded and rebuilt by different rulers over the course of time. Located at the center of the Moche capital city, archaeological evidence suggests that this temple was used for ritual activity and as a royal residence and burial chambers.
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Huaca Pucllana
The Huaca Juliana, or Huaca Pucllana', is a great adobe and clay pyramid located in the Miraflores district of central Lima, Peru, built from seven staggering platforms. It takes its name from the Quechua word “pucllay,” meaning “game,” which in its entirety can be translated as “a place for ritual games.” It served as an important ceremonial and administrative center for the advancement of the Lima Culture, a society which developed in the Peruvian Central Coast between the years of 200 AD and 700 AD.
With the intended purpose of having the elite clergymen (whom politically governed several valleys in the area) express their complete religious power and ability to control the use of all the natural water resources (saltwater and freshwater) of the zone, a Great Pyramid was constructed in the Huaca.
As a whole, the structure is surrounded by a plaza, or central square, that borders the outer limits, and by a large structured wall dividing it into two separate sections. In one section there were benches and evidence of deep pits where offerings of fish and other marine life took place in order to attain the favor of the gods. The other section is an administrative area. This area contains various small clay structures and huts made of adobe–with some walls still standing–whose function seemed to be to act as the courtyards and patios of the enclosure which is over 500 meters in length, 100 in width and 22 in height.
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Huancayo
Huancayo (Spanish pronunciation: [waŋˈkaʝo]; in Wanka Quechua: Wankayuq [wɐŋˈkæjuː], '(place) with a (sacred) rock') is the capital of the Junín Region, in the central highlands of Peru.
It is located in Huancayo Province, of which it is also capital. Situated in the Mantaro Valley at an altitude of 3,271 meters, it belongs to the Quechua region. Depending on delimitation, the agglomeration has a population between 340,000 and 380,000 and is the fifth most populous city of the country. Huancayo is the cultural and commercial center of the whole central Peruvian Andes area.
The area was originally inhabited by the Huancas. At around 500 BC, they were incorporated into the Wari Empire. Despite efforts to defend its independence, the Huancas were eventually subdued by the Inca leader Pachacutec in 1460 and the region was incorporated into the Inca empire. It subsequently became a notable stopping point along the Inca Camino Real.
After the Spanish colonization (1534), Huancayo was overshadowed by Jauja, 18 km to the north, which the conquistador Francisco Pizarro established as a provisional capital of Peru until Lima took over that role. In 1570, the viceroy Francisco de Toledo established the site as the center of his encomienda Guancayo. The town was officially established on June 1st, 1572 with the title of Santísima Trinidad de Huancayo. In 1813, Huancayo celebrated the promulgation of the Constitution of Cadiz, changing the name of the "Plaza del Comercio" to "Plaza de la Constitución".
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Huaraz
Huaraz (Spanish pronunciation: [waˈɾaθ] or [waˈɾas]) is a city in Peru. It is the capital of the Departmento de Ancash (State of Ancash) and the seat of government of the Provincia de Huaraz (Province of Huaraz). The urban agglomerations population is distributed over the districts of Huaraz and Independencia. It was estimated in 2007 to exceed 120,000. Huaraz is headquarters of the province's Roman Catholic Bishop and the site of his official cathedral.
Huaraz is in north-central Peru, about 420 km north of Lima, and at an altitude of 3,052 metres (10,013 ft). It is the largest population center in the agriculturally important Callejón de Huaylas valley. The Callejón (in Spanish roughly meaning large valley or corridor) is a north-south valley bounded on the east by the Cordillera Blanca (permanent white snowcaps and glaciers) and on the west by the Cordillera Negra (no permanent snowcapped peaks or glaciers, hence black). The Cordillera Blanca includes Huascarán, the highest mountain in Peru at 6,768 metres (22,205 ft) and the third highest in the Western Hemisphere. Huascarán and the adjacent peak Huandoy in fair weather are clearly visible from Huaraz.
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Huayna Picchu
Huayna Picchu also known as Wayna Picchu (Quechua: "Young Peak") is a mountain in Peru around which the Urubamba River bends. It rises over Machu Picchu, the so-called "lost city of the Incas" and divides it into sections. The Incas built a trail up the side of the Huayna Picchu and built temples and terraces on its top. The peak of Huayna Picchu is about 2,720 metres (8,920 ft) above sea level, or about 360 metres (1,180 ft) higher than Machu Picchu.
According to local guides, the top of the mountain was the residence for the high priest and the local virgins. Every morning before sunrise, the high priest with a small group would walk to Machu Picchu to signal the coming of the new day. The Temple of the Moon, one of the three major temples in the Machu Picchu area, is nestled on the side of the mountain and is situated at an elevation lower than Machu Picchu. Adjacent to the Temple of the Moon is the Great Cavern, another sacred temple with fine masonry. The other major local temples in Machu Picchu are the Temple of the Condor, Temple of Three Windows, Principal Temple, "Unfinished Temple", and the Temple of the Sun, also called the Torreon.
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Huánuco
Huánuco (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈwanuko]) is a city in central Peru. It has a population of 75,000 as of 2007 and is the capital of the Huánuco Region and the Huánuco District. It is the seat of the diocese of Huánuco. The metropolitan city of Huanuco is 170,000 hab (2011, urban pop, INEI). It has three districts, Huanuco (head), Amarilis, and Pillco Marca. In this city, the Higueras river meets the Huallaga river, one of the largest rivers in the country. The city of Huánuco was founded by Spanish conquistador Gómez de Alvarado in 1539, in the Inca town of Yarowilca. In 1541, the city was moved to its current location in the Pillco Valley. It is served by the Alférez FAP David Figueroa Fernandini Airport. One of the main terrestrial highways of the country passes by Huanuco, communicating Lima-Callao with Tingo Maria and Pucallpa in the Peruvian Amazonia.
Huánuco has a mild semi-arid climate. The temperatures are pleasant (with warm days and cool nights) throughout the year due to its elevation (1913 mt. - 6275 feet).
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Ica (city)
The city of Ica is the capital of the Ica Region in southern Peru. While the area was long inhabited by varying cultures of indigenous peoples, the Spanish conquistador Gerónimo Luis de Cabrera claimed its founding in 1563. As of 2005, it had an estimated population of over 219,856. The city suffered extensive damage and loss of life during the 2007 Peru earthquake.
The city is located on the Ica River about 300 km to the south of Lima, along the desert coast of southern Peru. Further south along the Pan-American Highway lies the city of Nazca.
In 2007, researchers found the fossil remains of a prehistoric penguin, Icadyptes salasi, which inhabited the Atacama Desert about 30 million years ago. Scientists estimate it was about 4.5 or five feet tall, with a foot-long beak.
Evidence of prehistoric indigenous civilizations has been found in the nearby deserts, such as that of Paracas. These included the xx, Paracas, and Inca, the last of whom were a people who encountered the Spanish. Numerous pre-Columbian archeological artifacts are displayed in the Museo Regional de Ica.
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Israel
Coordinates: 31°N 35°E / 31°N 35°E / 31; 35
Israel, officially the State of Israel ( /ˈɪzriːəl/ or /ˈɪzreɪəl/; Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Medīnat Yisrā'el, IPA: [me̞diˈnät jisʁäˈʔe̞l] ( listen); Arabic: دَوْلَة إِسْرَائِيل, Dawlat Isrāʼīl, IPA: [dawlat ʔisraːˈʔiːl]), is a parliamentary republic in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan and the West Bank in the east, Egypt and the Gaza Strip on the southwest, and the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea to the south, and it contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel is defined as a Jewish and Democratic State in its Basic Laws and is the world's only Jewish-majority state.
Following the adoption of a resolution by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 29 November 1947 recommending the adoption and implementation of the United Nations plan to partition Palestine, on 14 May 1948 David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel, a state independent from the British Mandate for Palestine. Neighboring Arab states invaded the next day in support of the Palestinian Arabs. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Portions of these territories, including east Jerusalem, have been annexed by Israel, but the border with the neighboring West Bank has not yet been permanently defined.[neutrality is disputed] Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, but efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have so far not resulted in peace.
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Japan
Japan
i/dʒəˈpæn/ (Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon; formally 日本国 
Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, literally the State of Japan) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.
Archaeological research indicates that people lived in Japan as early as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other nations followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since adopting its revised constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament called the Diet.
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Jerusalem
Jerusalem ( /dʒəˈruːsələm/; Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushaláyim ; Arabic: القُدس al-Quds and/or أورشليم Ûrshalîm) is the capital of Israel, though not internationally recognized as such, and one of the oldest cities in the world. It is located in the Judean Mountains, between the Mediterranean Sea and the northern edge of the Dead Sea. If the area and population of East Jerusalem is included, it is Israel's largest city in both population and area, with a population of 801,000 residents over an area of 125.1 km2 (48.3 sq mi). Jerusalem is also a holy city to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. The oldest part of the city was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent. Today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond its boundaries.
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Kaesong
Kaesŏng (Gaeseong; Korean pronunciation: [kɛsɔŋ]) is a city in North Hwanghae Province, southern North Korea (DPRK), a former Directly Governed City, and the capital of Korea during the Koryo Dynasty. The city is near Kaesŏng Industrial Region and it contains the remains of the Manwoldae palace. It was formally named Songdo while it was the ancient capital of Koryo. It prospered as a trade center that produced Korean ginseng, which is famous internationally. It is now the DPRK's light industry centre. It has a population of 308,440 as of 2008.
The earliest archaeological signs of habitation in the Kaesong area date from the Neolithic Age. Artifacts such as Jeulmun pottery, stone ware, and stone axes have been excavated from Mount Osong and Kaesong Nasong (double-walled fortress of Kaesong). As Kaesong has been occupied by various states throughout centuries, its name has changed as well. It was realm of Mahan confederacy, and was referred to as Busogap during the rule of Goguryeo. Before the strength of Baekje was retreated to the southwest of Jungnyeong, Joryeong, and Asan Bay in 475, the area had been a part of Baekje for about 100 years. However, it became a territory of Silla since 555, the 16th year of King Jinheung and its name was changed to "Songak-gun" during the period. According to Samguk Sagi, when a castle was built in the site in 694, the third year of King Hyoso's reign, Kaesong was referred to as "Songak (송악; 松嶽)". Therefore, it is assumed that the name Songak had been used at least before the time.
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Kraków
Kraków (Polish pronunciation: [ˈkrakuf] ( listen)) also Cracow, or Krakow (English /ˈkrækaʊ/), is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River (Polish: Wisła) in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life and is one of Poland's most important economic hubs. It was the capital of Poland from 1038 to 1569; the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 to 1596; the Grand Duchy of Kraków from 1846 to 1918; and Kraków Voivodeship from the 14th century to 1999. It is now the capital of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.
The city has grown from a Stone Age settlement to Poland's second most important city. It began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was already being reported as a busy trading centre of Slavonic Europe in 965. With the establishment of new universities and cultural venues at the emergence of the Second Polish Republic and throughout the 20th century, Kraków reaffirmed its role as a major national academic and artistic centre. The city has a population of approximately 760,000 whereas about 8 million people live within a 100 km radius of its main square.
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Kuelap
The fortress of Kuelap or Cuélap (Chachapoyas, Amazonas, Perú), associated with the Chachapoyas culture, consists of massive exterior stone walls containing more than four hundred buildings. The structure, situated on a ridge overlooking the Utcubamba Valley in northern Peru, is roughly 600 meters in length and 110 meters in width. It could have been built to defend against the Huari or other hostile peoples however evidence of these hostile groups at the site is minimal. Radiocarbon dating samples show that construction of the structures started in the 6th century AD and occupied until the Early Colonial period (1532-1570), however through the pre-Columbian, conquest and colonial periods we have only the four brief references to Kuelap. In lieu of newly discovered documents, there exists no other testimony concerning the site until 1843.
This prime example of Chachapoyan architecture, Kuelap, remained ignored by the outside world until 1843, when Juan Crisóstomo Nieto, a Chachapoyas judge, made a survey of the area and took note of Kuelap's great size, guided by villagers who had known of the site for generations. Subsequently, Kuelap earned the attention of explorers, historians and archaeologists. Notable observers who helped publicize the site included Frenchman Louis Langlois (who wrote a description of Kuelap in the 1930s), Adolph Francis Alphonse Bandelier, Ernst Middendorf, Charles Wiener and Antonio Raimondi.
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Kyoto
Kyoto (京都市, Kyōto-shi?, "Capital City") (Japanese pronunciation: [kʲoːto] ( listen)) is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe metropolitan area.
Although archaeological evidence places the first human settlement on the islands of Japan to approximately 10,000 BC, relatively little is known about human activity in the area before the 6th century AD, around which time the Shimogamo Shrine is believed to have been established. During the 8th century, when powerful Buddhist clergy became involved in the affairs of the Imperial government, the Emperor chose to relocate the capital to a region far from the Buddhist influence. Emperor Kammu selected the village of Uda, at the time in the Kadono district of Yamashiro Province, for this honor.
The new city, Heian-kyō (平安京, "tranquility and peace capital"), a scaled replica of the then Tang capital Chang'an, became the seat of Japan's imperial court in 794, beginning the Heian period of Japanese history. Although military rulers established their governments either in Kyoto (Muromachi shogunate) or in other cities such as Kamakura (Kamakura shogunate) and Edo (Tokugawa shogunate), Kyoto remained Japan's capital until the transfer of the imperial court to Tokyo in 1869 at the time of the Imperial Restoration. (Some believe that it is still a legal capital: see Capital of Japan.)
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La Habana
Havana (/həˈvænə/; Spanish: La Habana, [la aˈβana] ( listen)) is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of 726.75 km2 (280.60 sq mi) — making it the largest city by area, the most populous city, and the fourth largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean region. The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay, which is entered through a narrow inlet and which divides into three main harbours: Marimelena, Guanabacoa and Atarés. The sluggish Almendares River traverses the city from south to north, entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay.
Havana was founded by the Spanish in the 16th century and due to its strategic location it served as a springboard for the Spanish conquest of the continent becoming a stopping point for the treasure laden Spanish Galleons on the crossing between the New World and the Old World. King Philip II of Spain granted Havana the title of City in 1592. Walls as well as forts were built to protect the old city. The sinking of the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana's harbor in 1898 was the immediate cause of the Spanish-American War.
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La Paz
Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈnwes.tɾa seˈɲoɾa ðe la pas]; English: Our Lady of Peace; Aymara: Chuquiago Marka or Chuqiyapu), simply known as La Paz, is the seat of government of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of the La Paz Department, and the second largest city in the country (in population) after Santa Cruz de la Sierra. It is located in the western part of the country in the department of the same name at an elevation of roughly 3,650 m (11,975 ft) (the city is built on steep hills) above sea level, making it the world's highest "de facto" capital city, or administrative capital.
While the official capital of Bolivia is Sucre and it is the seat of Justice, La Paz has more government departments, hence the "de facto" qualifier. The city sits in a "bowl" surrounded by the high mountains of the altiplano.
As it grows, the city of La Paz climbs the hills, resulting in varying elevations from 3,000 to 4,100 m (9,800 to 13,500 ft). Overlooking the city is towering triple-peaked Illimani, which is always snow-covered and can be seen from several spots of the city, including from the neighbor city of El Alto. As of the 2001 census, the city had a population of 877,363.La Paz Metropolitan area, formed by the cities of La Paz, El Alto and Viacha, make the most populous urban area of Bolivia, with a population of 2.3 million inhabitants and surpassing the metropolitan area of Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
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La Plata
La Plata (English: The Silver) is the capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and of La Plata partido. According to the 2001 census [INDEC], the partido has a population of 574,369 and its metropolitan area has 694,253 inhabitants. The city itself has a population of 186,524.
La Plata was planned and developed to serve as the provincial capital after the city of Buenos Aires was federalized in 1880, and it was officially founded by Governor Dardo Rocha on 19 November 1882. Its construction is fully documented in photographs by Tomás Bradley Sutton. La Plata was renamed Eva Perón City (Ciudad Eva Perón) between 1952 and 1955.
The city is home to two football (soccer) teams that play in the first division: Estudiantes de La Plata and Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata.
Rocha decided to erect a new city to host the provincial government institutions and the planned university. Urban planner Pedro Benoit designed a city layout based on a rationalist conception of urban centers. The city has the shape of a square with a central park and two main diagonal avenues, north-south and east-west. (In addition, there are numerous other shorter diagonals.) This design is copied in a self-similar manner in small blocks of six by six blocks in length. Every six blocks, one finds a small park or square. Other than the diagonals, all streets are on a rectangular grid, and are numbered consecutively. Thus, La Plata is nicknamed "la ciudad de las diagonales" ("city of diagonals"). It is also called "la ciudad de los tilos" ("city of tilia (linden trees)") because of the large number of linden trees lining many streets and squares.
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Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima Metropolitan Area. With a population approaching 9 million, Lima is the fifth largest city in Latin America, behind Mexico City, São Paulo, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. Lima is home to one of the largest financial hubs in Latin America. It has been defined as a beta world city by GaWC international ranking.
Lima was founded by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro on January 18, 1535, as la Ciudad de los Reyes, or "the City of Kings". It became the capital and most important city in the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru. Following the Peruvian War of Independence, it became the capital of the Republic of Peru. Today, around one-third of the Peruvian population lives in the metropolitan area.
Lima is home to one of the oldest higher learning institutions in the New World. The National University of San Marcos, founded on May 12, 1551 during Spanish colonial regime, is the oldest continuously functioning university in the Americas.
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Llactapata
Coordinates: 13°10′32″S 72°35′10″W / 13.1756028°S 72.5859833°W / -13.1756028; -72.5859833 Llactapata (also spelled Llaqtapata) is a combination of two Quechua words. The pronunciation of Llactapata is yakta-pahta.
Hiram Bingham, discoverer of Machu Picchu and many other Incan sites, states that Llacta Pata is a descriptive term; "llacta" means "town" and "pata" means "a height". Thus, more than one site has been, and is, referred to by this name.
In the vicinity of Machu Picchu there appear to be two locations commonly referred to as Llactapata: one is a site about 5 km (3.1 mi) to the west of Machu Picchu; while the other is a site some 15 km (9.3 mi) to the south east of Machu Picchu. Both sites appear to be commonly known as Llactapata; both sites have Incan ruins; both sites are on different stretches of a trail known as the Inca trail.
A third site is also mentioned.
The Llactapata to the west of Machu Picchu (at: 13°10′32″S 72°35′10″W / 13.1756028°S 72.5859833°W / -13.1756028; -72.5859833) appears to be the site originally reported by Bingham as having this name. Although the site was little explored by Bingham, it was more extensively explored and mapped by the Thomson and Ziegler expedition of 2003.
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Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmatʃu ˈpitʃu], Quechua: Machu Pikchu [ˈmɑtʃu ˈpixtʃu], "Old Peak") is a pre-Columbian 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level. Machu Picchu is located in the Cusco Region of Peru, South America. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World.
The Incas started building the "estate" around 1400, but abandoned it as an official site for the Inca rulers a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of what the structures originally looked like. By 1976, thirty percent of Machu Picchu had been restored. The restoration work continues to this day.
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Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. As of the 2010 census, Madison had a population of 233,209. making it the second largest city in Wisconsin, after Milwaukee, and the 81st largest in the United States. The city forms the core of the United States Census Bureau's Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Dane County and neighboring Iowa and Columbia counties. The Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area had a 2010 population of 568,593.
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Mexico
Mexico (i/ˈmɛksɨkoʊ/; Spanish: México, IPA: [ˈmexiko] ( listen)), officially the United Mexican States (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos (help·info)), is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States of America; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometres (over 760,000 sq mi), Mexico is the fifth largest country in the Americas by total area and the thirteenth largest independent nation in the world. With an estimated population of over 113 million, it is the eleventh most populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country. Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a Federal District, the capital city.
In Pre-Columbian Mexico many cultures matured into advanced civilizations such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Maya and the Aztec before the first contact with Europeans. In 1521, Spain conquered and colonized the territory from its base in México-Tenochtitlan, which was administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain. This territory would eventually become Mexico as the colony's independence was recognized in 1821. The post-independence period was characterized by economic instability, the Mexican-American War and territorial cession to the United States, a civil war, two empires and a domestic dictatorship. The latter led to the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the country's current political system. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time that an opposition party won the presidency from the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
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Milan
Milan (Italian: Milano [miˈlaːno] ( listen); Lombard: [miˈlan]; Latin: Mediolanum) is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital of Lombardy as well as of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area is the 5th largest in EU and the largest in Italy with an estimated population of approximately 5 million. The growth of many suburbs and satellite settlements around the city proper, following the Italian economic miracle of 1950s–60s and massive commuting flows, suggest that socioeconomic linkages have expanded well beyond the boundaries of its administrative limits and its agglomeration, creating a region of approximately 9,3 million people. It has been suggested that the Milan metropolitan area is part of the so-called Blue Banana, the area of Europe with the highest population and industrial density. Its health care and education system is considered one of the best of Europe.
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Nazca Lines
Coordinates: 14°43′00″S 75°08′00″W / 14.7166667°S 75.1333333°W / -14.7166667; -75.1333333
The Nazca Lines /ˈnæzkə/ are a series of ancient geoglyphs located in the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. They were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The high, arid plateau stretches more than 80 kilometres (50 mi) between the towns of Nazca and Palpa on the Pampas de Jumana about 400 km south of Lima. Although some local geoglyphs resemble Paracas motifs, scholars believe the Nazca Lines were created by the Nazca culture between 400 and 650 AD. The hundreds of individual figures range in complexity from simple lines to stylized hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, fish, sharks, orcas, llamas, and lizards.
The lines are shallow designs made in the ground by removing the reddish pebbles and uncovering the whitish/grayish ground beneath. Hundreds are simple lines or geometric shapes; more than seventy are zoomorphic designs of animals such as birds, fish, llamas, jaguar, monkey, or human figures. Other designs include phytomorphic shapes such as trees and flowers. The largest figures are over 200 metres (660 ft) across. Scholars differ in interpreting the purpose of the designs, but in general they ascribe religious significance to them.
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North Korea
Coordinates: 40°00′N 127°00′E / 40°N 127°E / 40; 127 The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK; Chosŏn'gŭl: 조선민주주의인민공화국), commonly referred to as "North Korea" ( listen), is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea. The Amnok, or Yalu, and the Tumen rivers form the border between North Korea and China. A section of the Tumen River in the far northeast is the border with Russia.
The peninsula was governed by the Korean Empire until it was annexed by Japan after the Russo-Japanese War in 1910. It was divided into Soviet- and American-occupied zones in 1945, after the end of World War II. North Korea refused to participate in a United Nations–supervised election held in the south in 1948, which led to the creation of separate Korean governments for the two occupation zones. North and South Korea each claimed sovereignty over the whole Korean Peninsula, which led to the Korean War of 1950. The Armistice Agreement of 1953 ended the fighting; but the two countries are officially still at war against each other, for a peace treaty was never signed. Both states were accepted into the United Nations in 1991.
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Ollantaytambo
Ollantaytambo is a town and an Inca archaeological site in southern Peru some 60 kilometers northwest of the city of Cusco. It is located at an altitude of 2,792 meters (9,160 feet) above sea level in the district of Ollantaytambo, province of Urubamba, Cusco region. During the Inca Empire, Ollantaytambo was the royal estate of Emperor Pachacuti who conquered the region, built the town and a ceremonial center. At the time of the Spanish conquest of Peru it served as a stronghold for Manco Inca Yupanqui, leader of the Inca resistance. Nowadays it is an important tourist attraction on account of its Inca buildings and as one of the most common starting points for the three-day, four-night hike known as the Inca Trail.
Around the mid-15th century, the Inca emperor Pachacuti conquered and razed Ollantaytambo; the town and the nearby region were incorporated into his personal estate. The emperor rebuilt the town with sumptuous constructions and undertook extensive works of terracing and irrigation in the Urubamba Valley; the town provided lodging for the Inca nobility while the terraces were farmed by yanaconas, retainers of the emperor. After Pachacuti's death, the estate came under the administration of his panaqa, his family clan.
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Pachacamac
The temple of Pachacamac is an archaeological site 40 km southeast of Lima, Peru in the Valley of the Lurín River. Most of the common buildings and temples were built c. 800-1450 CE, shortly before the arrival and conquest by the Inca Empire.
To date, several pyramids have been uncovered; archaeologists have identified at least 17 pyramids (many of them irreversibly damaged by the El Niño weather phenomenon). Besides pyramids, the site had a cemetery and multicolored fresco of fish from the Early Intermediate period (c. 200-600 CE). Later, the Huari (c. 600-800 CE) constructed the city, probably using it as an administrative center. A number of Huari-influenced designs appear on the structures and on the ceramics and textiles found in the cemeteries of this period. After the collapse of the Huari empire, Pachacamac continued to grow as a religious center. The majority of the common architecture and temples were built during this stage (c. 800-1450 CE).
By the time the Tawantinsuyu (Inca Confederacy) invaded the area, the valleys of the Rímac and Lurín had a small state which the people called Ichma., They used Pachacamac primarily as a religious site for the veneration of the Pacha Kamaq, the creator god. The Ichma joined the Incan Empire, which used Pachacamac as an important administrative center. The Inca maintained it as a religious shrine and allowed the Pachacamac priests to continue functioning independently of the Inca priesthood. This included the oracle, whom the Inca presumably consulted. The Inca built five additional buildings, including a temple to the sun on the main square.
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PeruRail
PeruRail is a railway operator working tourist, freight, and charter services in southern Peru.
The main line between the port of Matarani, Arequipa (the capital of this region is Peru's second largest city), Cusco and Puno on Lake Titicaca was formerly known as the Ferrocarril del Sur (Peru Southern Railway), and was for a time owned and operated by the ENAFER state company. It is the second highest railway in the world after the Qinghai–Tibet Railway to Tibet.
From Cusco, PeruRail provides passenger services on the 3 ft (914 mm) gauge Ferrocarril Santa Ana to Aguas Calientes, delivering tourists for Machu Picchu.
It operates in a 50-50 venture with Orient-Express Hotels and Peruvian partners, namely Lorenzo Sousa Debarbieri.
PeruRail's routes are divided into two sections; there are no tracks through Cusco.
The line between Cusco and Machu Picchu is a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge line, while all other the lines are standard gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm).
The Cusco to Machu Picchu route, Ferrocarril Santa Ana, boasts a series of five switchbacks called locally 'El Zig-Zag', which enable the train to climb up the steep incline out of Cusco before it can begin its descent to the Sacred Valley and then continue down to Machu Picchu. However, this section of the route is currently suspended, and all trains to Machu Picchu leave from Poroy, just outside Cusco, instead.
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Philippines
The Philippinesi/ˈfɪlɨpiːnz/ FI-lə-peenz (Filipino: Pilipinas [ˌpɪlɪˈpinɐs]), officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas) is a sovereign country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam. The Sulu Sea to the southwest lies between the country and the island of Borneo, and to the south the Celebes Sea separates it from other islands of Indonesia. It is bounded on the east by the Philippine Sea. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and its tropical climate make the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons but have also endowed the country with natural resources and made it one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. An archipelago comprising 7,107 islands, the Philippines is categorized broadly into three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital city is Manila.
With an estimated population of about 98 million people, the Philippines is the 7th most populated Asian country and the 12th most populated country in the world. An additional 12.5 million Filipinos live overseas. Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelago's earliest inhabitants. They were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples who brought with them influences from Malay, Hindu, and Islamic societies. Trade introduced Chinese cultural influences which remain to this day.
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Piquillacta
Piquillacta, in Southern Quechua Piki Llaqta (City of fleas), is a large Huari archaeological site 20km east of Cusco in the province of Quispicanchi.
The site is also known as Piki Llacta, Pikillacta or Piquillacta.
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Poland
Polandi/ˈpoʊlənd/ (Polish: Polska), officially the Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska; Kashubian: Pòlskô Repùblika; Silesian: Polsko Republika), is a country in Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north. The total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres (120,726 sq mi), making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. Poland has a population of over 38 million people, which makes it the 34th most populous country in the world and the sixth most populous member of the European Union, being its most populous post-communist member. Poland is a unitary state made up of 16 voivodeships. Poland is a member of the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), European Economic Area, International Energy Agency, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, International Atomic Energy Agency, G6, Council of the Baltic Sea States, Visegrád Group, Weimar Triangle and Schengen Agreement.
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Pucallpa
Pucallpa (Quechua: puka allpa, "red earth") is a city in eastern Peru located on the banks of the Ucayali River, a major tributary of the Amazon River. It is the capital of the Ucayali region, the Coronel Portillo Province and the Calleria District.
Pucallpa was founded in the 1840s by Franciscan missionaries who settled several families of the Shipibo-Conibo ethnic group. For several decades it remained a small settlement as it was isolated from the rest of the country by the Amazon Rainforest and the Andes mountain range. From the 1880s through the 1920s a railway project to connect Pucallpa with the rest of the country via the Ferrocarril Central Andino was started and dropped several time until it was finally abandoned. Pucallpa's isolation finally ended in 1945 with the completion of a highway to Lima through Tingo Maria. The highway allowed the commercialization of regional products to the rest of the country, thus improving the economic outlook of the region and its capital, Pucallpa. However, the heavy rainfalls of the Amazon Rainforest remain a problem as they erode the highway and can even cut it by causing flash floods. Pucallpa is served by air through the Captain Rolden International Airport and by river through its port Pucallpillo near the center of the city. During the high water season, the floating ports of La Hoyada and Puerto Italia are used for riverine communications. Pucallpa is connected by road to Lima via the cities Huánuco and Cerro de Pasco.
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Písac
Písac is a Peruvian village in the Sacred Valley on the Urubamba River. The village is well-known for its market every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, an event which attracts heavy tourist traffic from nearby Cusco.
One of its more notable features is a large pisonay tree which dominates the central plaza. The sanctuary of Huanca, site of a sacred shrine, is also near the village. Pilgrims travel to the shrine every September.
The area is perhaps best known for its Incan ruins, known as Inca Písac, which lie atop a hill at the entrance to the valley. The ruins are separated along the ridge into four groups: Pisaqa, Intihuatana, Q'allaqasa, and Kinchiracay.Intihuatana group includes the Temple of the Sun, baths, altars, water fountains, a ceremonial platform, and an intihuatana, a volcanic outcrop carved into a "hitching post for the Sun" (or Inti). The angles of its base suggest that it served to define the changes of the seasons.Q'allaqasa, which is built onto a natural spur and overlooks the valley, is known as the citadel.
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Qoriwayrachina
A previously unknown Inca settlement, Qoriwayrachina was found in 2001. Quriwayrachina is Quechua for "where wind was used to refine gold", Close to nearby ancient Inca mines, the surrounding hills are covered with the littered stones from more than 200 structures in this Inca outpost.
The British photographer and researcher Peter Frost discovered in 1999 a walking trail of the village. In June 2001 he led a group of archaeologists to the area. They found an area of 6 square kilometers of agricultural terraces, grain storage, cemeteries, grave towers, more than 100 circular buildings, the stump of a pyramid and an 8km long canal , which was used for irrigation. The religious and administrative center was an open plaza, under which a tomb is located.
When the researchers arrived in Corihuayrachina, the city had been looted already. Skeletons were found in the graves were, but no grave goods. The found pottery and stone tools identified with two different time periods. Estimates place the origin of the outpost in the early 13th century, then abandoned, later to be resettled.
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Raqchi
Raqchi is an Inca archaeological site in the Cusco region in Peru also known as the Temple of Wiracocha, one of its constituents. A town nearby has the same name. Both lie along the Vilcanota (Urubamba) River. The site has experienced a recent increase in tourism in recent years, with 83,334 visitors to the site in 2006, up from 8,183 in 2000 and 452 in 1996.
The complex of Raqchi consists of several different areas each designated with a specific function.
The most prominent structure is the Temple of Wiracocha, an enormous rectangular two-story roofed structure that measures 92 metres (302 ft) by 25.5 metres (84 ft). This structure consists of a central adobe wall some 18 to 20 meters in height with an andesite base. Windows and doors allow passage. It is flanked on each side by a row of eleven columns. The foundations measure 4 metres (13 ft) for both the wall and the columns are classic high Inca stonework with the remaining height built of adobe.
Prior to its destruction by the Spaniards, the temple had what is believed to be the largest single roof in the Incan Empire, having its peak at the central wall, then stretching over the columns and some 25 metres (82 ft) beyond on each side. The huge proportions of the temple, and its prominence on the site explain why the whole complex is also sometimes referred to as the Temple of Wiracocha.
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Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( /ˈriːoʊ deɪ ʒəˈnɛəroʊ/ or /ˈriːoʊ deɪ dʒəˈnɛəroʊ/; Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈʁi.u dʒi ʒaˈnejɾu],River of January), commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th largest in the Americas, and 26th in the world.
The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1815 during the Portuguese colonial era, 1815 to 1821 as the capital of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves, and 1822 to 1960 as an independent nation. Rio is nicknamed the Cidade Maravilhosa or "Marvelous City."
Rio de Janeiro represents the second largest GDP in the country (and 30th largest in the world in 2008), estimated at about R$ 343 billion (IBGE/2008) (nearly US$ 201 billion), and is the headquarters of two major Brazilian companies – Petrobras and Vale, and major oil companies and telephony in Brazil, besides the largest conglomerate of media and communications companies in Latin America, the Globo Organizations. The home of many universities and institutes, it is the second largest center of research and development in Brazil, accounting for 17% of national scientific production – according to 2005 data.
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Russia
Russiai/ˈrʌʃə/ or /ˈrʊʃə/ (Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, and the US state of Alaska by the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the eighth most populous nation with 143 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning nine time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas globally. Russia has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.
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Sacred Valley
The Sacred Valley of the Incas or Urubamba Valley is a valley in the Andes of Peru, close to the Inca capital of Cusco and below the ancient sacred city of Machu Picchu. It is located in the modern Peruvian region of Cusco. In colonial documents it is referred to as the "Valley of Yucay", according to recent researches it encompasses the heartland of the Inca Empire. The valley is generally understood to include everything between Calca and Lamay, Písac, and Ollantaytambo, it has been formed by the Urubamba River, also known as Vilcanota River or Wilcamayu. The latter, in Quechua (the still spoken lingua franca of the Inca Empire), means the Sacred river. 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 one of the most important areas for maize production in Peru northwards from Pisac. The early Incas may have come from Wimpillay as their mummies had been discovered there. Large scale maize production started around 1400 as Inca urban agriculture based on varieties bred in Moray, either a governmental crop lab or a seedling nursery of the Incas.
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Sacsayhuaman
Sacsayhuamán (also known as Saksaq Waman, Sacsahuaman or Saxahuaman) is a walled complex on the northern outskirts of the city of Cusco, Peru, the former capital of the Inca Empire. The complex is as many other Inca constructions made of large polished dry-stone walls, each boulder carefully cut to fit together tightly without mortar.
The site, at an altitude of 3,701 m, was added as part of the city of Cusco to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983.
Located on a steep hill that overlooks the city, it contains an impressive view of the valley to the southeast. Surface collections of pottery at Sacsayhuaman indicate that the earliest occupation of the hill top dates back at least a millennium.[citation needed]
Because of its location high above Cuzco and its immense terrace walls, this area of Sacsayhuaman is frequently referred to as a fortress. Some writers also believe the complex was built specifically to represent the head of a puma, the effigy shape which Sacsayhuamán together with Cuzco forms when seen from above.[citation needed] The importance of its military functions was highlighted in 1556 when Manco Inca lay siege to Cuzco. Much of the fighting occurred in and round Sacsayhuaman as it was critical for maintaining control over the city. It is clear from descriptions of the siege, as well as from excavations at the site, that there were towers on its summit as well as a series of other buildings.[citation needed] For example Pedro Sancho, who visited the complex before the siege, mentions the labyrinth like quality of the complex and the fact that it held a great number of storage rooms filled with a wide variety of items.[citation needed] He also notes that there were buildings with large windows that looked over the city. These structures, like so much of the site, have long since been destroyed.
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Sacsayhuamán
Sacsayhuamán (also known as Saksaq Waman, Sacsahuaman or Saxahuaman) is a walled complex on the northern outskirts of the city of Cusco, Peru, the former capital of the Inca Empire. The complex is as many other Inca constructions made of large polished dry-stone walls, each boulder carefully cut to fit together tightly without mortar.
The site, at an altitude of 3,701 m, was added as part of the city of Cusco to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983.
Located on a steep hill that overlooks the city, it contains an impressive view of the valley to the southeast. Surface collections of pottery at Sacsayhuaman indicate that the earliest occupation of the hill top dates back at least a millennium.[citation needed]
Because of its location high above Cuzco and its immense terrace walls, this area of Sacsayhuaman is frequently referred to as a fortress. Some writers also believe the complex was built specifically to represent the head of a puma, the effigy shape which Sacsayhuamán together with Cuzco forms when seen from above.[citation needed] The importance of its military functions was highlighted in 1556 when Manco Inca lay siege to Cuzco. Much of the fighting occurred in and round Sacsayhuaman as it was critical for maintaining control over the city. It is clear from descriptions of the siege, as well as from excavations at the site, that there were towers on its summit as well as a series of other buildings.[citation needed] For example Pedro Sancho, who visited the complex before the siege, mentions the labyrinth like quality of the complex and the fact that it held a great number of storage rooms filled with a wide variety of items.[citation needed] He also notes that there were buildings with large windows that looked over the city. These structures, like so much of the site, have long since been destroyed.
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Samarkand
Coordinates: 39°39′15″N 66°57′35″E / 39.65417°N 66.95972°E / 39.65417; 66.95972
Samarkand (Tajik: Самарқанд; Persian: سمرقند; Uzbek: Samarqand; from Sogdian: "Stone Fort" or "Rock Town") is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of Samarqand Province. The city is most noted for its central position on the Silk Road between China and the West, and for being an Islamic centre for scholarly study. In the 14th century it became the capital of the empire of Timur (Tamerlane) and is the site of his mausoleum (the Gur-e Amir). The Bibi-Khanym Mosque remains one of the city's most notable landmarks. The Registan was the ancient center of the city.
In 2001, UNESCO added the city to its World Heritage List as Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures.
The city was known by an abbreviated name of Marakanda when Alexander the Great took it in 332BC. There are various theories of how Marakanda evolved into Samarkanda/Samarkan. One derives the name from the Old Persian asmara, "stone", "rock", and Sogdian kand, "fort", "town". Others less convincingly derive the name from the old Turkic "Semiz-Kent" meaning "Rich City".[citation needed]. Since the name Marakanda was already in existence 2300 years ago and long before anyone had heard of Turks in that region of Transoxiana, this version is likely a folk etymology.
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Sillustani
Sillustani is a pre-Incan burial ground on the shores of Lake Umayo near Puno in Peru. The tombs, which are built above ground in tower-like structures called chullpas, are the vestiges of the Colla people, Aymara who were conquered by the Inca in the 15th century. The structures housed the remains of complete family groups, although they were probably limited to nobility. Many of the tombs have been dynamited by grave robbers, while others were left unfinished.
Ancestor worship and kinship were integral parts of Aymara culture, and the huge chullpas or "chupa" at Sillustani were built to house the Aymara elite of the immediate pre-Inca and Inca period. The word was used in the 19th century and comes from the Dictionary of Ludovico Bertonio (1612). Bertonio referred to the basket burials of the semi-nomadic pastoralists as "chulpas" and actually referred to stone towers as "uta Amaya" "houses of the soul". However, the term "chullpa" remains used today for the towers. Many of the chullpas at Sillustani show pre-Inca characteristics that were later redressed with Inca stone blocks. Similar chullpas are found throughout the entire south Central Andes with the above ground burial styles going back at least to mature Tiwanaku (ca AD 500-950). The insides of the tombs were built to hold entire groups of people, most likely extended families of the Aymara elite. Corpses were not intentionally mummified, but in the dry environment created by the closed tomb, they survived for centuries. Most mummy bundles indicate burial in a fetal position. Some of the tombs also have various animal shapes carved into the stone. The only openings to the buildings face east, where it was believed the Sun was reborn by Mother Earth each day.
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Sipán
Sipán is a Moche archaeological site in northern Peru that is famous for the tomb of El Señor de Sipán (Lord of Sipán), excavated by Walter Alva and his wife Susana Meneses. It is considered to be one of the most important archaeological discoveries in the last 30 years, because the main tomb was found intact and undisturbed by thieves. Tombs were found in Sipán's Huaca Rajada, an area near Chiclayo. Many huaca were found showing Moche jewelry, masks, and art. The tomb of the Lord of Sipan has been dated to around 100 AD.
The tombs in the area are of adobe construction, of pyramidal shape, now eroded by successive El Niño events. Excavations continue. A mock-up of the Lord of Sipan's tomb, complete with replica head-dress, breastplates and other grave goods, is open to visitors. A reconstruction of the Lord of Sipan in his regalia is on view in the Archaeological Museum of Lima, Peru.
It is believed that, as with ancient Egyptians, the people placed grave goods, including the remains of servants, to ensure survival of the elite into the afterlife. Also discovered were hundreds of small clay pots with individual faces, understood to be offerings made by the lord's subjects.
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Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire (Spanish: Imperio Español) comprised territories and colonies administered by Spain in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its political and economic power when it became the foremost global power. Its establishment in the 15th century ushered in the modern global era and five centuries of European dominance of global affairs. Spain's territorial reach beyond Europe spanned six centuries, from the first voyages to the Americas in 1492 until the independence of its last African colonies in the 1970s.
After the War of the Castilian Succession (1475–1479), Spain had emerged with a personally unified monarchy, with the marriage of the Catholic Monarchs or los Reyes Catolicos between the Queen of Castile and the King of Aragon: the internal and foreign policy was coordinated although the rule was separate. In 1492, the Spanish monarchs completed the Reconquista with the incorporation of Granada to the Kingdom of Castile. That same year Christopher Columbus commanded the first Spanish exploratory voyage west across the Atlantic Ocean, leading to the Discovery of America and Europe's eventual colonial engagement in the New World. The Americas thereby became the focus of Spanish exploration and colonization.
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Sullana
Sullana is the name of the capital of the Sullana Province, in the north-western coastal plains of Peru on the Chira valley.
Sullana is located at 04°53' south latitude and 80°41' west longitude, 38 km north of Piura, the capital of the region.
The province has a tropical savanna climate and an average temperature of 27°C degrees. The minimum temperature is 16 °C and the maximum temperature is 38 °C (can go over 42 °C mark if the El Niño phenomenon is present).
The city is irriganted by the waters of the Chira River, the area around the capital city of Sullana is very fertile and there is much lush, tropical vegetation: Coconut palm trees, banana trees, paddy fields, etc. Sullana is an important commercial centre in one of Peru's major cotton-growing areas, along with the San Martin Region and the smaller Tumbes Region. A new sugar cane plantation has been planted nearby by Maple Ethanol for ethanol production.
Migration to Sullana has been intensive, but "pueblos jóvenes" (shanty towns) are neither widespread nor conspicuous, as they are in Piura for example. The total population in Sullana was 112,770 in 1981, 147,361 in 1993 and circa 162,500 in 2005.
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Talara
Talara is a city in the Talara Province of the Piura Region, in northwestern Peru. It is a port city on the Pacific Ocean with a population of 103,200 as of 2005. Its climate is hot and dry. Due to its oil reserves, and ability to produce aviation fuel, Talara hosted a United States air base during World War II. Talara is also home to a large fishing fleet. The city is served by the Cap. FAP Victor Montes Arias International Airport.
Talara is the westernmost city in all of mainland South America. (A small outlying town, Seccion Dieciocho, is situated slightly further west, and just beyond there, the land itself reaches its westernmost extent at Punta Pariñas.) Talara and some neighbouring cities (Piura and Amotape) served as backdrop for the short novel 'Who Killed Palomino Molero?' by Mario Vargas Llosa.
In 1912 Alfred J Foster was the main engineer in charge of building the Port and Oil Refinery. At this time Talara was just a small fishing village. His wife Susanna Foster followed him to this remote village and a book has been written from her journals. The book has been written by Susanna's granddaughter Lesley Stephens titled Talara. A True Story.
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Tambo Colorado
Tambo Colorado is a well-preserved Inca adobe complex near the coast of Peru, also known as Puka Tampu, Pucallacta or Pucahuasi.
The site is located just inland from the south coast of Perú in the Pisco River Valley about 40 km along the highway to Ayacucho known as the Via de los Libertadores, close to the town of Pisco. Initial reports from the 2007 Peru Earthquake reported no major damage to the site.
A High resolution GPS point was shot at the site datum on 2 Aug 2009 using an L2 GPS (Trimble GeoXH with Zephyr). The post-processed position is as follows: Northings: 8484705.386 m (± 0.8 m) Eastings: 410335.884 m (± 0.8 m) Altitude (MSL): 484.849 m (±1.8 m) UTM Zone 18 South, Datum WGS 1984.
The site was most likely built at the end of the 15th century during the reign of the Inca king Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui also known as Pachacutec.
The site owes its name to the abundant use of colors on the walls. Thanks to favorable (very dry) environmental conditions, many walls at Tambo, both internal and external, retain enough residual colored paint to accurately reconstruct what the original wall painting would have been like. Color here was often applied in horizontal strips of red, black, white, and yellow ochre atop stucco, and variation in color would accentuate architectural features such as niches. Trapezoidal niches at Tambo have one or two recesses each, likely used for the placement of important objects. As with all Inca constructions, the overall dimensions of niche construction are standardized across the entire site.
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Tambomachay
Coordinates: 13°28′51″S 71°57′53″W / 13.48083°S 71.96472°W / -13.48083; -71.96472 Tambomachay or Tampumachay (from Quechua: tanpu mach'ay, resting place) is an archaeological site associated with the Inca Empire, located near Cusco, Peru. An alternate local name is the El Baño del Inca, "The Bath of the Inca".
It consists of a series of aqueducts, canals and waterfalls that run through the terraced rocks. The function of the site is uncertain: it may have served as a military outpost guarding the approaches to Cusco, as a spa resort for the Incan political elite, or both.
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Tarapoto
Tarapoto, known as the "City of Palms", is a thriving commercial hub in northern Peru, an hour by plane from Lima, situated in the San Martín Province of the San Martín Region, located in the high jungle plateau to the east of what is known as the selva baja (low jungle). Although Moyobamba is the capital of the region, Tarapoto is the region's largest city, and is linked to the Upper Amazon and the historic city of Yurimaguas by a relatively well-maintained newly paved (2008–2009) transandean highway.
Tarapoto is at an altitude of approximately 356 meters above sea level on the high jungle plateau, also called the cloud forest. Founded in 1782 by Baltazar Martínez Jiménez de Compagnon, Tarapoto has a population of 63,484 (downtown) and over 117,184 inhabitants with the outlying Morales and Banda de Shilcayo districts, according to the 2007 census.
Tarapoto is often used by tourists and local visitors as a "jumping off" point for excursions into the vast Amazon Rainforest. The region's main activities are tourism, commerce, agriculture and a thriving illicit "shadow economy" including the production of coca leaves, the extraction of lumber and the trade in land concessions.
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Tipón
Tipón, located east of Cusco, are Inca ruins may have been a park for upper class or agricultural centrum. Still today, water is rushing though the channels, which is seldom, and the wide terraces, masterpieces of mortar-less walls, are in perfect condition. Several surrounding ruins are excavated, and many more are visible below the soil.
Cusco travel guide from Wikitravel
Coordinates: 13°34′15″S 71°46′59″W / 13.57083°S 71.78306°W / -13.57083; -71.78306
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Trujillo, Peru
Trujillo, in northwestern Peru, is the capital of the La Libertad Region. The city is located on the banks of the Moche River, near its mouth at the Pacific Ocean, in a valley of great cultural hegemony with Moche and Chimu cultures at its respective time.
Trujillo was honored in 1822 by the congress of republic with the title "Meritorious City and Faithful to the Fatherland", for its role in the fight for independence. Trujillo is the birthplace of Peru's judiciary, and it was twice designated as the capital of the country. It was the scene of the Revolution of Trujillo in 1932.
In Trujillo, the birthplace of Liberty, was born on the Judiciary, and the judges took their historic responsibility to ensure the weapons of law: freedom and rights of the people freed from political and military power, normative and ideological of state Spanish The city is also considered the cradle of liberty and cradle of the judiciary in Peru.
Trujillo is known as the "Capital of the everlasting Spring", is considered the "Capital of the Marinera," which is a typical dance in Peru, "Cradle of the typical Peruvian Paso Horse" well as the "Capital of Culture of Peru". It has sponsored numerous national and international cultural events, and has a lively arts community. Current festivals include the "Marinera National Festival", the "Spring International Festival" and the "International Book Fair", which is one of the most important cultural events in the country.
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Túcume
Túcume is a pre-Hispanic site in Peru, south of the La Leche River on a plain around La Raya Mountain. It covers an area of over 540 acres (220 ha) and encompassing 26 major pyramids and mounds. The area is referred to as Purgatorio (purgatory) by local people.
This site was a major regional center, maybe even the capital of the successive occupations of the area by the Lambayeque/Sican (800-1350 AD), Chimú (1350–1450 AD) and Inca (1450–1532 AD). Local shaman healers (curanderos) invoke power of Tucume and La Raya Mountain in their rituals, and local people fear these sites. Hardly anyone other than healers venture out in this site at night.
The plains of Túcume are part of the Lambayeque Valley, the largest valley of the North Coast of Peru. The Lambayeque Valley is the site of scores of natural and man-made waterways and is also a region of about 250 brick pyramids.
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United States
The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km2) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.
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Uzbekistan
Uzbekistani/ʊzˌbɛkɨˈstɑːn/, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi, Ўзбекистон Республикаси) is the only doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of only two such countries worldwide. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south. Before 1991, it was part of the Soviet Union.
Uzbekistan is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia.
Once part of the Persian Samanid and later Timurid empires, the region was conquered in the early 16th century by Uzbek nomads, who spoke an Eastern Turkic language. Most of Uzbekistan’s population today belong to the Uzbek ethnic group and speak the Uzbek language, one of the family of Turkic languages.
Uzbekistan was incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century, and in 1924 became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, known as the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR). It became independent on 31 August 1991 (officially, from the following day).
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Vilcabamba, Peru
Vilcabamba or Espíritu Pampa (from Quechua: Willkapampa, "sacred valley") was a city founded by Manco Inca in 1539 and was the last refuge of the Inca Empire until it fell to the Spaniards in 1572, signaling the end of Inca resistance to Spanish rule.
After the Incan empire fell, the city was burned and the area swiftly became a remote, secluded spot. The location of Vilcabamba was forgotten.
The first outsiders in modern times to rediscover the remote forest site that has since come to be identified with Old Vilcabamba (Vilcabamba la Vieja) were three Cuzqueños: Manuel Ugarte, Manuel Lopez Torres, and Juan Cancio Saavedra, in 1892. In 1911, Hiram Bingham with his book Lost City of the Incas brought to public attention the site of the ruins of the city at the remote forest site then called Espíritu Pampa, 130 kilometres (81 mi) west of Cuzco. Bingham, however, did not realize its significance and believed that Machu Picchu was the fabled "Vilcabamba", lost city and last refuge of the Incas.
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Wanchaq District
Wanchaq District is one of eight districts of the province Cusco in Peru. It includes Avenida de la Cultura, and Avenida de los Incas. It is home to 2 hospitals, and borders the district of San Sebastian.
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Wari ruins
The Wari Ruins are located near Quinua, in the Huanta Province, Ayacucho Region, Peru at an altitude 2770 m above sea-level. These ruins are all that is left of Wari, the capital city of the Wari (Spanish: Huari).
This capital city covers some 16 square kilometers, and the architecture is aligned to conform to the local topography. This was a highly organized city with residential, administrative, and religious areas. The ruins appear to be in almost the same condition as they were during the days of the powerful Wari (Huari) empire, from about CE 500 to 900. There are signs that most of the buildings were coated with a layer of white plaster, which must have been a stunning sight in those days.
The Wari were a Middle Horizon civilization. This civilization spread out across the south-central Andes and coastal area of modern-day Peru. The Wari came after the Moche and before the Chimu and Inca cultures.
Other sites where Wari ruins were discovered are at Pikillacta, near Cuzco, Peru and the recently discovered (2008) Northern Wari ruins near the city of Chiclayo.
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Wiñay Wayna
Coordinates: 13°11′34″S 72°32′11″W / 13.19278°S 72.53639°W / -13.19278; -72.53639
Wiñay Wayna (Quechua for "forever young", alternatively spelled Huynay Huayna) is an Inca ruin along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. It is built into a steep hillside overlooking the Urubamba River. The site consists of upper and lower house complexes connected by a staircase and fountain structures. Above and below the houses the people built areas of agricultural terraces, which are still visible.
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Xi'an
Xi'an (Chinese: 西安; pinyin: Xī'ān; Wade–Giles: Hsi-An, also spelled Hsi-an, Hsian, or Sian) is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty. Xi'an is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, having held the position under several of the most important dynasties in Chinese history, including Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang. Xi'an is the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and home to the Terracotta Army.
Since the 1990s, as part of the economic revival of interior China especially for the central and northwest regions, the city of Xi'an has re-emerged as an important cultural, industrial and educational centre of the central-northwest region, with facilities for research and development, national security and China's space exploration program. It's now one the most populous metropolitan areas in inland China with more than 8 million inhabitants, including urban parts of Xianyang (Weicheng and Qindu districts).
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Anthony Horowitz
Anthony Horowitz (born 5 April 1955) is an English novelist and screenwriter. He has written many children's novels, including The Power of Five, Alex Rider and The Diamond Brothers series and has written over fifty books. He has also written extensively for television, adapting many of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels for the ITV series. He is the creator and writer of the ITV series Foyle's War, Midsomer Murders and Collision.
Anthony Horowitz was born in 1955 in Middlesex, into a wealthy French Jewish family, and in his early years lived an upper-class lifestyle. As an overweight and unhappy child, Horowitz enjoyed reading books from his father's library. At the age of eight, Horowitz was sent to the boarding school Orley Farm in Harrow, Middlesex. There, he entertained his peers by telling them the stories he had read. Horowitz described his time in the school as "a brutal experience", recalling that he was often beaten by the headmaster.
Horowitz's father acted as a "fixer" for prime minister Harold Wilson. Facing bankruptcy, he moved his assets into Swiss numbered bank accounts. He died from cancer when his son Anthony was 22, and the family was never able to track down the missing money despite years of trying. Horowitz adored his mother, who introduced him to Frankenstein and Dracula. She also gave him a human skull for his 13th birthday. Horowitz said in an interview that it reminds him to get to the end of each story since he will soon look like the skull. From the age of eight, Horowitz knew he wanted to be a writer, realising "the only time when I'm totally happy is when I'm writing". He graduated from the University of York with a BA in English literature in 1977.
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Atahualpa
Atahualpa, Atahuallpa, Atabalipa, or Atawallpa (March 20, 1497 – August 29, 1533), was the last Sapa Inca or sovereign emperor of the Tahuantinsuyu, or the Inca Empire, prior to the Spanish conquest of the Incan Empire. Atahualpa became emperor upon defeating his older half-brother Huáscar in a civil war sparked by the death of their father, Inca Huayna Capac, from an infectious disease which may have been smallpox.
During the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, the Spaniard Francisco Pizarro captured Atahualpa and used him to control the Inca empire. Eventually, the Spanish executed Atahualpa, ending the Inca Empire (although several successors claimed the title of Sapa Inca ("unique Inca") and led a resistance against the invading Spaniards). After Atahualpa died, the Incan Empire began to erode.
When questioned by his Spanish captors in the Cajamarca prison about his origins, Atahualpa personally declared that he was the son of the Inca Huayna Capac from Tomebamba (Ecuador), and his mother was the Quito princess Paccha Duchicela, from Caranqui(Ecuador). The union was a politically expedient one, as the southern Ecuadorian Andes had been conquered by Huayna Capac's father, Túpac Inca Yupanqui some years earlier and Huayna Capac had recently conquered the northern Ecuadorian Andes, which Paccha Duchicela royal family had some influence.
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China
China (i/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.
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Conquistador
Conquistadors ( /kɒn.ˈkiːstədɔrz/; Spanish and Portuguese: Conquistadores, Spanish: [koŋkistaˈðoɾes], Portuguese: [kõkiʃtaˈðoɾɨʃ]; "Conquerors") were soldiers, explorers, and adventurers at the service of the Spanish or Portuguese Empires. They sailed beyond Europe, conquering territory and opening trade routes. They colonized much of the world for Spain and Portugal in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries.
The name derived from the Reconquista (711–1492), the reconquest of the territory of the Iberian Peninsula that was controlled by Muslims (the state called Al-Andalus). In 1492 Castile expanded its exploratory activities, using Portuguese navigators.[citation needed] Portugal had previously established a marine route to Japan via the southern coast of Africa, with numerous coastal enclaves along the route. Following the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492, expeditions led by conquistadors brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 16th century.
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Francisco Pizarro
Francisco Pizarro González (c. 1471 or 1476 – 26 June 1541) was born in Trujillo, Spain, the illegitimate son of Gonzalo Pizarro, an infantry colonel, and Francisca González, a woman of poor means. His exact birth date is uncertain, but is believed to be sometime in the 1470s, probably 1471. Scant attention was paid to his education and he grew up illiterate. He was a distant cousin of Hernán Cortés. On 10 November 1509, Pizarro sailed from Spain to the New World with Alonzo de Ojeda on an expedition to Urabí. He sailed to Cartagena and joined the fleet of Martin Fernández de Encíso, and, in 1513, accompanied Balboa to the Pacific. In 1514, he found a supporter in Pedrarias Dávila, the Governor of Castilla de Oro, and was rewarded for his role in the arrest of Balboa with the positions of mayor and magistrate in Panama City, serving from 1519 to 1523.
Reports of Peru's riches and Cortés's success in Mexico tantalized Pizarro and he undertook two expeditions to conquer the Incan Empire in 1524 and in 1526. Both failed as a result of native hostilities, bad weather, and lack of provisions. Pedro de los Ríos, the Governor of Panama, made an effort to recall Pizarro, but the conquistador resisted and remained in the south. In April 1528, he reached northern Peru and found the natives rich with precious metals. This discovery gave Pizarro the motivation to plan a third expedition to conquer Peru, and he returned to Panama to make arrangements, but the Governor refused to grant permission for the project. Pizarro returned to Spain to appeal directly to King Charles I. His plea was successful, and he received not only a license for the proposed expedition but considerable authority over any lands conquered during the venture. He was joined by family and friends, and the expedition left Panama in 1530.
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Hiram Bingham III
Hiram Bingham, formally Hiram Bingham III, (November 19, 1875 – June 6, 1956) was an academic, explorer, treasure hunter and politician from the United States. He made public the existence of the Quechua citadel of Machu Picchu in 1911 with the guidance of local indigenous farmers. Later, Bingham served as a member of the United States Senate.
Bingham was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Hiram Bingham II (1831–1908), an early Protestant missionary to the Kingdom of Hawai'i, the grandson of Hiram Bingham I (1789–1869), another missionary. He attended O'ahu College, now known as Punahou School in Hawai'i from 1882 to 1892. He went to the United States in his teens in order to complete his education, entering Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, from which he graduated in 1894. He obtained a B.A. degree from Yale University in 1898, a degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1900, and a Ph. D. degree from Harvard University in 1905. While at Yale, Bingham was a member of Acacia Fraternity. He taught history and politics at Harvard and then served as preceptor under Woodrow Wilson at Princeton University. In 1907, Yale University appointed Bingham III as a lecturer in South American history.
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Huayna Capac
Huayna Capac (1464/1468–1525/1527) was the eleventh Sapa Inca of the Inca Empire and sixth of the Hanan dynasty. He was the successor to Tupac Inca Yupanqui.
In Quechua, his name is spelled Wayna Qhapaq, and in Southern Quechua, it is Vaina Ghapakh. In English, his name translates to the "rich youth" or the "youthful prince." His original name was Tito Husi Hualpa.
Huayna Capac was born in Tomebamba, Azuay Province, Ecuador, possibly in 1488. He was the son of Topa Inca and the Inca's sister and wife.
Huayna Capac's legitimate wife and full sister was Coya Cusirimay. The couple produced no male heirs, but Huayna Capac sired as many as 50 or more children with other women, including Ninan Cuyochi, Huáscar, Atahualpa, Túpac Huallpa, Manco Inca Yupanqui, General Atoc, Paullu Inca and Quispe Sisa, all of whom could be said to be his successors.
Huayna Capac extended the Inca empire (Tahuantinsuyu) significantly to the south into present-day Chile and Argentina. For many years, he and his armies fought to annex territories north of his empire in what is now Ecuador (and a small region of Colombia) to the northernmost province. The capital city of the empire was far to the south in Cuzco, and Huayna Capac hoped to establish a northern stronghold in the city of Tomebamba.
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Huáscar
Huáscar Inca (Quechua: Waskar Inka, of uncertain meaning, said to be related to his birthplace Huascarpata; 1503–1532) was Sapa Inca of the Inca empire from 1527 to 1532 AD, succeeding his father Huayna Capac and brother Ninan Cuyochi, both of whom died of smallpox while campaigning near Quito.
After the conquest, the Spanish put forth the idea that Huayna Capac may have intended Huáscar to be the Emperor, and his half-brother Atahualpa to be the governor of the Quito province. Then Huayna Capac and his initial heir Ninan Cuyochi died prematurely without naming a successor. Without a clear line of succession, a war broke out between Huáscar and his brother Atahualpa.
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Inca Empire
The Inca Empire, or Inka Empire (Quechua: Tawantinsuyu), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cusco in modern-day Peru. The Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century.
From 1438 to 1533, the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean mountain ranges, including, besides Peru, large parts of modern Ecuador, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, north and central Chile, and southern Colombia into a state comparable to the historical empires of Eurasia.
The official language of the empire was Quechua, although hundreds of local languages and dialects of Quechua were spoken. The Inca referred to their empire as Tawantinsuyu which can be translated as The Four Regions or The Four United Provinces.
There were many local forms of worship, most of them concerning local sacred "Huacas", but the Inca leadership encouraged the worship of Inti—the sun god—and imposed its sovereignty above other cults such as that of Pachamama. The Incas considered their King, the Sapa Inca, to be the "child of the sun."
wn.com/Inca_Empire -
Inca Roca
Inca Roca (Quechua Inka Roq'a, "magnanimous Inca") was the sixth Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cusco (beginning around CE 1350) and the first of the Hanan ("upper") dynasty. His wife was Mama Michay, and his son was Yáhuar Huácac.
Roca's father was the Inca Cápac Yupanqui, whose heir apparent (by his wife Cusi Hilpay) had been his son Quispe Yupanqui. However, after Cápac Yupanqui's death, the hanan moiety rebelled against the hurin, killed Quispe Yupanqui, and gave the throne to Inca Roca, son of another of Cápac Yupanqui's wives, Cusi Chimbo. Inca Roca moved his palace into the hurin section of Cuzco.
In legend, he is said to have conquered the Chancas (among other peoples), as well as established the yachaywasi, schools for teaching nobles. More soberly, he seems to have improved the irrigation works of Cuzco and neighboring areas, but the Chancas continued to trouble his successors.
wn.com/Inca_Roca -
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as "indigenous" according to one of the various definitions of the term, though there is no universally accepted definition.
In the late twentieth century, the term began to be used primarily to refer to ethnic groups that have historical ties to groups that existed in a territory prior to colonization or formation of a nation state, and which normally preserve a degree of cultural and political separation from the mainstream culture and political system of the nation state within the border of which the indigenous group is located. The political sense of the term defines these groups as particularly vulnerable to exploitation and oppression by nation states. As a result, a special set of political rights in accordance with international law have been set forth by international organizations such as the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and the World Bank. The United Nations have issued a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to protect the collective rights of indigenous peoples to their culture, identity, language, employment, health, education and natural resources. Depending on which precise definition of "indigenous people" used, and on the census, estimates of a world total population of Indigenous people range from 220 million Indigenous peoples in 1997 to 350 million in 2004.
wn.com/Indigenous_peoples -
Jesus
Jesus ( /ˈdʒiːzəs/; Greek: Ἰησοῦς; 7–2 BC/BCE to 30–36 AD/CE), also referred to as Jesus Christ or simply Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and most Christian denominations venerate him as God the Son incarnated. In Islam, Jesus (in Arabic: عيسى in Islamic usage, commonly transliterated as Isa) is considered one of God's important prophets.
Most modern historians agree that Jesus existed and was a Jewish teacher from Galilee in Roman Judaea, who was baptized by John the Baptist, and was crucified in Jerusalem on the orders of the Roman Prefect, Pontius Pilate. Scholars have offered competing descriptions and portraits of Jesus, which at times share a number of overlapping attributes, such as a rabbi, a charismatic healer, the leader of an apocalyptic movement, a self-described Messiah, a sage and philosopher, or a social reformer who preached of the "Kingdom of God" as a means for personal and egalitarian social transformation. Scholars have correlated the New Testament accounts with non-Christian historical records to arrive at an estimated chronology of Jesus' life.
wn.com/Jesus -
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004. He was known for his eclectic taste in music and his honest and warm broadcasting style.
He was one of the first broadcasters to play psychedelic rock and progressive rock records on British radio, and he is widely acknowledged for promoting artists working in various genres, including pop, reggae, indie rock, alternative rock, punk, hardcore punk, breakcore, grindcore, death metal, British hip hop, and dance music.
Peel's Radio 1 shows were notable for the regular 'Peel sessions', which usually consisted of four songs recorded by an artist live in the BBC's studios, and which often provided the first major national coverage to bands that later would achieve great fame. (These 'sessions' are similar to 'Live Lounge' sessions recorded today for the station.) Another popular feature of his shows was the annual Festive Fifty countdown of his listeners' favourite records of the year.
wn.com/John_Peel -
Manco Inca Yupanqui
Manco Inca Yupanqui (1516–1544) (Manqu Inka Yupanki in Quechua) was one of the Incas of Vilcabamba. He was also known as "Manco II" and "Manco Cápac II" ("Manqu Qhapaq II"). Born in 1516, he was one of the sons of Huayna Cápac and came from a lower class of the nobility.
Túpac Huallpa, a puppet ruler crowned by conquistador Francisco Pizarro, died in 1533. Manco Inca then approached Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro in Cajamarca to negotiate a pact, to rule the Inca peoples and Peru since all of the royal nobles were dead. The conquistadors agreed, and in 1534 Manco was crowned the ruler of the Inca in Cuzco by Francisco Pizarro, and allowed to rule his people. He did not realize that he too was being used by Pizarro as a puppet ruler for the Spanish conquistadors, who planned to conquer his country and its people.
At first, Manco cooperated with the Spanish, befriending them and offering them gold treasures and women as gifts. However, when Pizarro and de Almagro left Cuzco to explore the northern and southern parts of Peru, he left his younger brothers Gonzalo Pizarro, Juan Pizarro and Hernando Pizarro as garrisons in the city of Cuzco.
wn.com/Manco_Inca_Yupanqui -
Pachacuti
Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (or Pachacutec). He was the ninth Sapa Inca (1438–1471/1472) of the Kingdom of Cusco, which he transformed into the empire Tawantinsuyu, or the Inca Empire. Most archaeologists now believe that the famous Inca site of Machu Picchu was built as an estate for Pachacuti.
In Quechua, Pachakutiq means "He who shakes the earth", and Yupanqui means "With honor". During his reign, Cuzco grew from a hamlet into an empire that could compete with, and eventually overtake, the Chimú. He began an era of conquest that, within three generations, expanded the Inca dominion from the valley of Cuzco to nearly the whole of western South America.
Pachacuti, son of Inca Viracocha, was the fourth of the Hanan dynasty. His wife's name is given as Mama Anawarkhi or Coya Anahurque. He had two sons: Amaru Yupanqui and Tupac Inca Yupanqui. Amaru, the older son, was originally chosen to be co-regent and eventual successor. Pachacuti later chose Tupac Inca because Amaru was not a warrior. He was also the first one to retire.
wn.com/Pachacuti -
Pedro Cieza de Leon
Pedro Cieza de León (Llerena, Spain c.1520 ---Seville, Spain 1554) was a Spanish conquistador and chronicler of Peru. He is known primarily for his history and description of Peru, Crónicas del Perú. He wrote this book in four parts, but only the first was published during his lifetime; the remaining sections were not published until the 19th and 20th centuries.
Cieza de León was likely born in 1520 in Llerena, a town in southeastern Extremadura. Little is known of his early life; given the fact that he left home at age thirteen, it is doubtful that Cieza de León received more than a rudimentary education at a local parish school. His father, Lope de León, was a shopkeeper in the town, and his mother, Leonor de Cazalla, was a native of Llerena, and there is scant documentary evidence of the young Cieza de León’s childhood.
Cieza participated in various expeditions and helped found a number of cities. These activities include the following:
Cieza returned to Seville, Spain, in 1551 and married a woman named Isabel López de Abreu. In this city he published, in 1553, the first part of the chronicles of Peru (Primera Parte). He died the following year, leaving the rest of his work unpublished. His Second Part of Chronicles of Peru, describing the Incas, was translated by Clements Markham and published in 1871. In 1909, the fourth part of his chronicle, focusing on the civil wars among the Spanish conquerors was published under the title Third Book of the Peruvian Civil Wars. The third part of Cieza de León's Crónicas del Perú, which examined the discovery and conquest of Peru by the Spaniards, was considered by historians to be lost. The document eventually turned up in a Vatican library, and historian Francesca Cantù published a Spanish version of the text in 1979.
wn.com/Pedro_Cieza_de_Leon -
Pre-Columbian era
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during the Early Modern period.
While the phrase "pre-Columbian era" literally refers only to the time preceding Christopher Columbus's voyages of 1492, in practice the phrase usually is used to denote the entire history of American indigenous cultures until those cultures were conquered or significantly influenced by Europeans, even if this happened decades or centuries after Columbus's first landing. For this reason the alternative terms of Pre-Colonial Americas or Prehistoric Americas are also in use. In areas of Hispanic America the term usually used is Pre-Hispanic.
Many pre-Columbian civilizations established hallmarks which included permanent settlements, cities, agriculture, civic and monumental architecture, major earthworks, and complex societal hierarchies. Some of these civilizations had long faded by the time of the first permanent European arrivals (c. late 15th–early 16th centuries), and are known only through archaeological investigations. Others were contemporary with the colonial period, and were described in historical accounts of the time. A few, such as the Maya, had their own written records. Because most Christian Europeans of the time viewed such texts as heretical, they destroyed many texts in pyres. Only a few hidden documents have survived, giving modern historians glimpses of ancient culture and knowledge.
wn.com/Pre-Columbian_era -
Sapa Inca
The Sapa Inca ("The Great Inca"), also known as Apu ("Divinity"), Inka Qhapaq ("mighty Inca"), or simply Sapa ("The Great One") was the ruler of the Kingdom of Cusco and later, the Emperor of the Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu). The origins of the position are mythical and tied to the legendary foundation of the city of Cusco but historically it seems to have come into being around 1100. The position was hereditary, with son succeeding father.
There were two known dynasties, led by the Hanan and Hurin moieties respectively. The latter was in power at the time of Spanish conquest. The last official Sapa Inca was Atahualpa, who was executed by the Spanish in 1533, though several of successors later claimed the title.
Little is known of the rulers of the first dynasty of Sapa Incas. Evidently, they were affiliated with the Hurin moiety and their rule did not extend beyond the Kingdom of Cusco. Their origins are tied to the mythical establishment of Cusco and are shrouded in later foundation myth. The dynasty was supposedly founded by Manco Cápac, considered the son of the sun god Inti.
wn.com/Sapa_Inca -
St. Dominic
Saint Dominic (Spanish: Santo Domingo), also known as Dominic of Osma and Dominic of Caleruega (occasionally Calaruega), often called Dominic de Guzmán and Domingo Félix de Guzmán (1170 – August 6, 1221) was the founder of the Friars Preachers, popularly called the Dominicans or Order of Preachers (OP), a Roman Catholic religious order. Dominic is the patron saint of astronomers.
Dominic was born in Caleruega, halfway between Osma and Aranda de Duero in Old Castile, Spain. He was named after Saint Dominic of Silos, who is said to be the patron saint of hopeful mothers, astronomers. The Benedictine abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos lies a few miles north of Caleruega.
In the earliest narrative source, by Jordan of Saxony, Dominic's parents are not named. The story is told that before his birth his mother dreamed that a dog leapt from her womb carrying a torch in its mouth, and "seemed to set the earth on fire". This story is likely to have emerged when his order became known, after his name, as the Dominican order, in Latin is Dominicanus and by a play of words was interpreted as Domini canis: "Dog of the Lord." Jordan adds that Dominic was brought up by his parents and a maternal uncle who was an archbishop. The failure to name them is not surprising, since Jordan's work is a history of the early years of the Order rather than a biography of Dominic. A later source, still of the 13th century, gives the names of Dominic's mother and father as Juana and Felix. Nearly a century after Dominic's birth, a local author asserts that Dominic's father was "vir venerabilis et dives in populo suo" ("an honoured and wealthy man in his village"). The earliest statement that Dominic's father belonged to the family de Guzmán, and that his mother belonged to the Aça or Aza family, occurs in the travel narrative of Pero Tafur, written in 1439 or soon after.
wn.com/St._Dominic -
Tahuantinsuyu
The Inca Empire, or Inka Empire (Quechua: Tawantinsuyu), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cusco in modern-day Peru. The Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century.
From 1438 to 1533, the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean mountain ranges, including, besides Peru, large parts of modern Ecuador, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, north and central Chile, and southern Colombia into a state comparable to the historical empires of Eurasia.
The official language of the empire was Quechua, although hundreds of local languages and dialects of Quechua were spoken. The Inca referred to their empire as Tawantinsuyu which can be translated as The Four Regions or The Four United Provinces.
There were many local forms of worship, most of them concerning local sacred "Huacas", but the Inca leadership encouraged the worship of Inti—the sun god—and imposed its sovereignty above other cults such as that of Pachamama. The Incas considered their King, the Sapa Inca, to be the "child of the sun."
wn.com/Tahuantinsuyu -
Túpac Amaru II
Túpac Amaru II (José Gabriel Túpac Amaru b. March 19, 1742 in Surimana-Canas, Cuzco, Viceroyalty of Peru – executed in Cuzco May 18, 1781) was a leader of an indigenous uprising in 1780 against the Spanish in Peru. Although unsuccessful, he later became a mythical figure in the Peruvian struggle for independence and indigenous rights movement and an inspiration to a myriad of causes in Peru.
Túpac Amaru II was born José Gabriel Condorcanqui in Surimana, Tungasuca, in the province of Cuzco, and received a Jesuit education at the San Francisco de Borja School, although he maintained a strong identification with the indigenous population. He was a mestizo who claimed to be a direct descendant of the last Inca ruler Túpac Amaru. He had been honored by the Spanish authorities of Peru with the title of Marquis of Oropesa, a position that allowed him some voice and political leverage during Spanish rule. Between 1741 and 1780 Amaru II went into litigation with the Betancur family over the right of succession of the Marquisate of Oropesa and lost the case. In 1760, he married Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua of Afro-Peruvian and indigenous descent. Condorcanqui inherited the caciqueship, or hereditary chiefdom of Tungasuca and Pampamarca from his older brother, governing on behalf of the Spanish governor.
wn.com/Túpac_Amaru_II -
Viracocha (Inca)
Viracocha (Quechua Wiraqocha, the name of a god) was the eighth Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cusco (beginning around 1410) and the third of the Hanan dynasty. His father was Yáhuar Huácac, and his son was Pachacuti. His original name was Hatun Tupaq or Ripaq; he was named after the god Viracocha after having visions of the god. His wife's name was Mama Runu.
He was involved in the final struggle between the Incas and the Chancas (of modern-day Apurímac, west of Cuzco). The chroniclers differ on whether he was a hero or a coward. According to some, such as Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, his father Yáhuar Huácac abandoned the capital under the attack of the Chancas; Viracocha defeated the enemy and saved the city. Others, such as Pedro Cieza de León and Juan de Betanzos, claim that Viracocha abandoned the city and that his son Pachacuti saved it.
One chronicler, Sarmiento de Gamboa, states that Viracocha was the first Incan to rule the territories he conquered, while his predecessors merely raided and looted them.
wn.com/Viracocha_(Inca) -
Xi'an
Xi'an (Chinese: 西安; pinyin: Xī'ān; Wade–Giles: Hsi-An, also spelled Hsi-an, Hsian, or Sian) is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty. Xi'an is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, having held the position under several of the most important dynasties in Chinese history, including Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang. Xi'an is the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and home to the Terracotta Army.
Since the 1990s, as part of the economic revival of interior China especially for the central and northwest regions, the city of Xi'an has re-emerged as an important cultural, industrial and educational centre of the central-northwest region, with facilities for research and development, national security and China's space exploration program. It's now one the most populous metropolitan areas in inland China with more than 8 million inhabitants, including urban parts of Xianyang (Weicheng and Qindu districts).
wn.com/Xi'an
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ANTHONY BURDAIN -TRAVEL TO CUZCO PERU & MACHU PICCHU 2006
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:45
- Updated: 10 Nov 2012
ANTHONY BURDAIN LIKES PERU AND MACHUPICCHU A LOT !!!! COMO AND VISIT PERU THE LAND OF THE INKAS AND THEN VISITA LIMA THE CAPITAL.
http://wn.com/ANTHONY_BURDAIN_-TRAVEL_TO_CUZCO_PERU_MACHU_PICCHU_2006
ANTHONY BURDAIN LIKES PERU AND MACHUPICCHU A LOT !!!! COMO AND VISIT PERU THE LAND OF THE INKAS AND THEN VISITA LIMA THE CAPITAL.
City of Cuzco (UNESCO/NHK)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:45
- Updated: 06 Dec 2012
Situated in the Peruvian Andes, Cuzco developed, under the Inca ruler Pachacutec, into a complex urban centre with distinct religious and administrative functions. It was surrounded by clearly delineated areas for agricultural, artisan and industrial production. When the Spaniards conquered it in the 16th century, they preserved the basic structure but built Baroque churches and palaces over the ruins of the Inca city. Source: UNESCO TV / © NHK Nippon Hoso Kyokai URL: whc.unesco.org
http://wn.com/City_of_Cuzco_UNESCO_NHK
Situated in the Peruvian Andes, Cuzco developed, under the Inca ruler Pachacutec, into a complex urban centre with distinct religious and administrative functions. It was surrounded by clearly delineated areas for agricultural, artisan and industrial production. When the Spaniards conquered it in the 16th century, they preserved the basic structure but built Baroque churches and palaces over the ruins of the Inca city. Source: UNESCO TV / © NHK Nippon Hoso Kyokai URL: whc.unesco.org
- published: 03 Jun 2010
- views: 13168
- author: unesco
Real Ancient Technology Found in Cuzco Peru 2012 New
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:22
- Updated: 12 Dec 2012
Here is more ancient wonder live from Brien Foerster -
http://wn.com/Real_Ancient_Technology_Found_in_Cuzco_Peru_2012_New
Here is more ancient wonder live from Brien Foerster -
- published: 12 Mar 2012
- views: 845962
- author: SPRTN79
Cuzco, part 1
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:43
- Updated: 04 Nov 2012
Arrival, Monasterio Hotel, main plaza, shopping lanes and more.
http://wn.com/Cuzco,_part_1
Arrival, Monasterio Hotel, main plaza, shopping lanes and more.
- published: 25 Aug 2006
- views: 32841
- author: denniscallan
Cuzco Peru: Clear Evidence Of The Great Builders Before The Inca
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:41
- Updated: 06 Dec 2012
Click HERE: megalithomania.co.uk to join Ancient Alien's own Hugh Newman and Brien Foerster on a once in a lifetime tour this November! Get up close and personal with mysterious temples and ancient sites such as the Puma Punku, the Pyramids of Cahuachi, and of course, the Moai Heads of Easter Island! Click on the link to view the tour page. www.hiddenincatours.com
http://wn.com/Cuzco_Peru_Clear_Evidence_Of_The_Great_Builders_Before_The_Inca
Click HERE: megalithomania.co.uk to join Ancient Alien's own Hugh Newman and Brien Foerster on a once in a lifetime tour this November! Get up close and personal with mysterious temples and ancient sites such as the Puma Punku, the Pyramids of Cahuachi, and of course, the Moai Heads of Easter Island! Click on the link to view the tour page. www.hiddenincatours.com
- published: 15 Feb 2012
- views: 17487
- author: Brien Foerster
ES Posthumus - Cuzco
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:03
- Updated: 12 Dec 2012
Track nº1 - Antissa Track nº2 - Tikal Track nº3 - Harappa Track nº4 - Ulaid Track nº5 - Ebla Track nº6 - Nara Track nº7 - Cuzco Track nº8 - Nineveh Track nº9 - Lepcis Magna Track nº10 - Menouthis Track nº11 - Extremoz Track nº12 - Pompeii Track nº13 - Isfahan _____________________________________ Tracks from the 2001 album: Unearthed Album's art work: The inspiration of Saint Matthew, painted by Caravaggio
http://wn.com/ES_Posthumus_Cuzco
Track nº1 - Antissa Track nº2 - Tikal Track nº3 - Harappa Track nº4 - Ulaid Track nº5 - Ebla Track nº6 - Nara Track nº7 - Cuzco Track nº8 - Nineveh Track nº9 - Lepcis Magna Track nº10 - Menouthis Track nº11 - Extremoz Track nº12 - Pompeii Track nº13 - Isfahan _____________________________________ Tracks from the 2001 album: Unearthed Album's art work: The inspiration of Saint Matthew, painted by Caravaggio
- published: 15 Aug 2008
- views: 272901
- author: ContainNuts
Lost Ancient Alien Technology Cuzco Peru
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:47
- Updated: 11 Dec 2012
Raw video not seen on TV. More videos coming! Special thanks to Brien Foerster for his hard work. Enjoy :)
http://wn.com/Lost_Ancient_Alien_Technology_Cuzco_Peru
Raw video not seen on TV. More videos coming! Special thanks to Brien Foerster for his hard work. Enjoy :)
- published: 23 Jan 2012
- views: 20976
- author: SPRTN79
Tempting tourists in Cuzco
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:39
- Updated: 16 Nov 2012
www.metropolisweb.tv In the Peruvian city of Cuzco, some inhabitants make a living of seducing young female tourists. Correspondent Jeronimo tagged along with one of these bricheros.
http://wn.com/Tempting_tourists_in_Cuzco
www.metropolisweb.tv In the Peruvian city of Cuzco, some inhabitants make a living of seducing young female tourists. Correspondent Jeronimo tagged along with one of these bricheros.
- published: 24 Nov 2009
- views: 48721
- author: vprometropolis
Cuzco, Ancient Capital of the Inca Empire, Peru
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:12
- Updated: 12 Jun 2012
Scenes of Cuzco, including what the Spanish did with Inca stonework and the main Inca temple, a segment from "The Inca Lost and Found", afree Intrepid Berkeley Explorer video that features Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley of the Incas, Cuzco, Inca interviews, the search for Andean musicians, Lima, the Nazca Lines, and other parts of Peru. To enjoy all of this film, plus over 30 more free, non-commercial, streaming travel videos from every continent, and still pictures, please ask a search engine for: Intrepid Berkeley Explorer
http://wn.com/Cuzco,_Ancient_Capital_of_the_Inca_Empire,_Peru
Scenes of Cuzco, including what the Spanish did with Inca stonework and the main Inca temple, a segment from "The Inca Lost and Found", afree Intrepid Berkeley Explorer video that features Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley of the Incas, Cuzco, Inca interviews, the search for Andean musicians, Lima, the Nazca Lines, and other parts of Peru. To enjoy all of this film, plus over 30 more free, non-commercial, streaming travel videos from every continent, and still pictures, please ask a search engine for: Intrepid Berkeley Explorer
- published: 04 May 2007
- views: 36116
- author: intrepberkexplorer
In Cuzco, Peru
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:20
- Updated: 12 Dec 2012
Eu chegei a Cuzco e meus pais tambem chegarom. eu gostei muito do Cuzco e muito legal e barato e boa comida, I arrived to Cuzco and then my parents got there too, I liked Cuzco very much, e very cool, and cheap, and it has great food. My friend mark that I met in RIo de janeiro was there too so we met up, and hang out and catch up on things, it was nice, and then he left and I stayed there for about two more weeks. enjoy thanks for watching
http://wn.com/In_Cuzco,_Peru
Eu chegei a Cuzco e meus pais tambem chegarom. eu gostei muito do Cuzco e muito legal e barato e boa comida, I arrived to Cuzco and then my parents got there too, I liked Cuzco very much, e very cool, and cheap, and it has great food. My friend mark that I met in RIo de janeiro was there too so we met up, and hang out and catch up on things, it was nice, and then he left and I stayed there for about two more weeks. enjoy thanks for watching
- published: 22 Mar 2012
- views: 1932
- author: theshark2005
CUZCO - CRUISE 2010
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:37
- Updated: 18 Nov 2012
a day in CUZCO 2010 shot with Canon 5D2,EF24mm-F2.8,STEADICAM MERLIN twitter.com
http://wn.com/CUZCO_CRUISE_2010
a day in CUZCO 2010 shot with Canon 5D2,EF24mm-F2.8,STEADICAM MERLIN twitter.com
- published: 11 Nov 2010
- views: 18771
- author: egawauemon
Ollantaytambo Cuzco Peru Ingenieria Alienigena
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:41
- Updated: 04 Nov 2012
Ollantaytambo Cuzco Peru Ingenieria Alienigena
http://wn.com/Ollantaytambo_Cuzco_Peru_Ingenieria_Alienigena
Ollantaytambo Cuzco Peru Ingenieria Alienigena
- published: 13 Apr 2012
- views: 1205
- author: jesusguzmangallardo
Puertas al Mas alla-El monje del Cuzco-1de2
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 21:30
- Updated: 13 Dec 2012
Cuando el espíritu de un monje se manifiesta con agresividad ante los huéspedes de un hotel del Valle Sagrado del Cuzco en Perú,el administrador del mismo acude a un chamán en busca de una solución.
http://wn.com/Puertas_al_Mas_alla-El_monje_del_Cuzco-1de2
Cuando el espíritu de un monje se manifiesta con agresividad ante los huéspedes de un hotel del Valle Sagrado del Cuzco en Perú,el administrador del mismo acude a un chamán en busca de una solución.
- published: 20 Aug 2012
- views: 9546
- author: Documentalesymas
Gangnam Style Flash Mob At Loki Cusco, Peru
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:14
- Updated: 12 Dec 2012
Like our Facebook Page for more from Loki Hostels www.facebook.com The staff and guests from Loki Hostel Cusco decided to do a few flash mobs around Cusco to PSY - Gangnam Style We went to -Plaza de Armas -Orion Super Market -San Pedro market -Around the hostel -And a few places inbetween
http://wn.com/Gangnam_Style_Flash_Mob_At_Loki_Cusco,_Peru
Like our Facebook Page for more from Loki Hostels www.facebook.com The staff and guests from Loki Hostel Cusco decided to do a few flash mobs around Cusco to PSY - Gangnam Style We went to -Plaza de Armas -Orion Super Market -San Pedro market -Around the hostel -And a few places inbetween
- published: 21 Aug 2012
- views: 333456
- author: LokiHostels
Surreal Ancient Technology In Cuzco Peru
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:22
- Updated: 12 Dec 2012
Click HERE: megalithomania.co.uk to join Ancient Alien's own Hugh Newman and Brien Foerster on a once in a lifetime tour this November! Get up close and personal with mysterious temples and ancient sites such as the Puma Punku, the Pyramids of Cahuachi, and of course, the Moai Heads of Easter Island! Click on the link to view the tour page. www.hiddenincatours.com
http://wn.com/Surreal_Ancient_Technology_In_Cuzco_Peru
Click HERE: megalithomania.co.uk to join Ancient Alien's own Hugh Newman and Brien Foerster on a once in a lifetime tour this November! Get up close and personal with mysterious temples and ancient sites such as the Puma Punku, the Pyramids of Cahuachi, and of course, the Moai Heads of Easter Island! Click on the link to view the tour page. www.hiddenincatours.com
- published: 16 Feb 2012
- views: 330821
- author: Brien Foerster
Machu Picchu, Cuzco, Peru 1950
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:50
- Updated: 12 Jun 2012
This is some of the earliest color footage of Machu Picchu in Cuzco, Peru taken in June and July of 1950. The film begins at a railroad station with people in a cattle car and men on the roof playing instruments. A woman spins at a busy marketplace. The camera pans a narrow steep gorge approaching Machu Picchu revealing terrace farming on side of steep mountain, the valley at base of Machu Picchu, sunrise over terrace farms and ruins, and water coming out of " princess" quarters. Inca stone buildings amid terrace forms on high steep side of mountain near the peak. The camera tracks the view from the plane back to Lima looking southeast toward the mountains. All rights are reserved by the UniversityMuseum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum). Any use of the footage in productions is forbidden unless rights have been secured by contacting the Penn Museum Archives at 215-898-8304, or emailfilms@museum.upenn.edu. This film and all of the films in the Penn Museum collection are copyrighted by the Penn Museum, and are not in the public domain. Full length footage can be seen at www.archive.org
http://wn.com/Machu_Picchu,_Cuzco,_Peru_1950
This is some of the earliest color footage of Machu Picchu in Cuzco, Peru taken in June and July of 1950. The film begins at a railroad station with people in a cattle car and men on the roof playing instruments. A woman spins at a busy marketplace. The camera pans a narrow steep gorge approaching Machu Picchu revealing terrace farming on side of steep mountain, the valley at base of Machu Picchu, sunrise over terrace farms and ruins, and water coming out of " princess" quarters. Inca stone buildings amid terrace forms on high steep side of mountain near the peak. The camera tracks the view from the plane back to Lima looking southeast toward the mountains. All rights are reserved by the UniversityMuseum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum). Any use of the footage in productions is forbidden unless rights have been secured by contacting the Penn Museum Archives at 215-898-8304, or emailfilms@museum.upenn.edu. This film and all of the films in the Penn Museum collection are copyrighted by the Penn Museum, and are not in the public domain. Full length footage can be seen at www.archive.org
- published: 10 Jun 2008
- views: 16549
- author: pennmuseum
Nina Nastasia - Bird Of Cuzco
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:03
- Updated: 11 Oct 2012
Nina Nastasia sings in Moscow Club Jao-Da [April 19, 2006]
http://wn.com/Nina_Nastasia_Bird_Of_Cuzco
Nina Nastasia sings in Moscow Club Jao-Da [April 19, 2006]
- published: 31 Jul 2006
- views: 39465
- author: bdonbdubdulon
Machu Picchu Sunrise
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:16
- Updated: 12 Oct 2012
The lost city of the Inka Empire and poem of Pablo Neruda to Machu Picchu
http://wn.com/Machu_Picchu_Sunrise
The lost city of the Inka Empire and poem of Pablo Neruda to Machu Picchu
- published: 28 Jul 2009
- views: 15127
- author: osmanuel37
Cuzco - ES Posthumus
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:01
- Updated: 29 Oct 2012
disclaimer: This is no way mine. This belongs to the musical group ES posthumus. From the album "unearthed" This is probably one of the best pieces I have heard in a long time.
http://wn.com/Cuzco_ES_Posthumus
disclaimer: This is no way mine. This belongs to the musical group ES posthumus. From the album "unearthed" This is probably one of the best pieces I have heard in a long time.
- published: 15 Jul 2008
- views: 53748
- author: EezleD
REAL Ancient Technology Found in Cuzco Peru 2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:22
- Updated: 13 Dec 2012
REAL Ancient Technology Found in Cuzco Peru 2012! Follow Top Secret News : twitter.com Top Secret * Latest breaking News *
http://wn.com/REAL_Ancient_Technology_Found_in_Cuzco_Peru_2012
REAL Ancient Technology Found in Cuzco Peru 2012! Follow Top Secret News : twitter.com Top Secret * Latest breaking News *
- published: 06 May 2012
- views: 232963
- author: TopSecretNews1
Peru: Episode 1 (Cuzco)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:40
- Updated: 08 Dec 2012
Cuzco
http://wn.com/Peru_Episode_1_Cuzco
PERU--Valle Sagrado (Sacred Valley), Cuzco, Peru
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:09
- Updated: 19 Sep 2012
www.horacesworld.com Slideshow of 'Valle Sagrado' (Sacred Valley of the Inca) outside Cuzco, Andes Highlands, Pisac Market, Urubamba River, Alpaca Carpaccio at Tunupu Restaurant (Km. 77) and Ollantaytambo Inca Ruins. Soundtrack 'Munaq' by Miki Gonzalez from Cafe Inkaterra '04
http://wn.com/PERU--Valle_Sagrado_Sacred_Valley,_Cuzco,_Peru
www.horacesworld.com Slideshow of 'Valle Sagrado' (Sacred Valley of the Inca) outside Cuzco, Andes Highlands, Pisac Market, Urubamba River, Alpaca Carpaccio at Tunupu Restaurant (Km. 77) and Ollantaytambo Inca Ruins. Soundtrack 'Munaq' by Miki Gonzalez from Cafe Inkaterra '04
- published: 20 Jul 2007
- views: 31780
- author: hwhittlesey
Cuzco & Lake Titicaca Peru RoadTrip 2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:34
- Updated: 03 Oct 2012
Peru RoadTrip takes 4 awesome guests on a 12 day adventure visiting many of Peru's greatest treasures. www.peruroadtrip.com
http://wn.com/Cuzco_Lake_Titicaca_Peru_RoadTrip_2012
Peru RoadTrip takes 4 awesome guests on a 12 day adventure visiting many of Peru's greatest treasures. www.peruroadtrip.com
- published: 09 Sep 2012
- views: 187
- author: Peru Roadtrip
photo: AP / Manu Brabo
13 Dec 2012
MOSCOW, December 13 (RIA Novosti) – Syrian rebels behind the kidnapping of Ukrainian journalist Ankhar Kochneva have released a video threatening more attacks on Russians and Ukrainians, as a deadline for her execution approaches on Thursday. Kochneva, a 40-year-old Ukrainian citizen, was abducted in October by Syrian rebels as she traveled to the city of Homs, and has been held there by them since, they claim ... ....(size: 2.1Kb)
photo: AP / Lee Jin-man
13 Dec 2012
The head of the internet giant Google has defiantly defended his company’s tax avoidance strategy claiming he was “proud” of the steps it had taken to cut its tax bill which were just “capitalism”. In an interview in New York Eric Schmidt, Google’s Chairman, confirmed the company had no intention of paying more to the UK exchequer ... “I am very proud of the structure that we set up ... ” ....(size: 3.7Kb)
photo: UN / Eric Kanalstein
11 Dec 2012
Afghan women victims of violence are still being failed by the justice system, according to a new UN report. Although there had been some progress in implementing a 2009 anti-violence law, overall use of the law "remained low", the report says. Cultural pressures and inconsistent police practices are hampering implementation of the law, it added ... 'Tip of the iceberg' ... Afghan victims of sexual abuse rarely speak out ... ....(size: 2.5Kb)
photo: AP / Bullit Marquez
11 Dec 2012
The death toll brought about by typhoon “Pablo” continued to rise with 714 persons confirmed dead by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) yesterday while those missing ballooned to 890 as massive search, retrieval and relief operations continue in the typhoon-ravaged areas in Mindanao ... 4 ... They were subsequently brought to Caraga Regional Hospital ... (NHMFC) (P100,000) ... With AFP ....(size: 5.4Kb)
photo: Russian Presidential Press and Information Office
12 Dec 2012
MOSCOW. Russia President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday denounced opponents who receive financial assistance from abroad and vowed that the country would not allow democracy to be imposed from the outside. Putin said in his first annual state-of-the-nation address since he returned to the Kremlin for a third term that it should be illegal for anyone who receives money from abroad to be a politician in Russia ... ....(size: 3.9Kb)
Huffington Post
14 Dec 2012
For the first time in history, more women than men have driver's licenses, and that means safer roads and less pollution for all of us. Just over 50 percent of Americans with driver's licenses are women, according to a study by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. In 1963, men accounted for 60 percent of all drivers ... drivers from 1963 to 2010 ... Now, they make up 59 percent ... Mike Knell</em>Cuzco, Peru ... Flickr ... ....(size: 15.8Kb)
PhysOrg
13 Dec 2012
Birdwatchers take part in the Birding Rally Challenge near the Machu Picchu sanctuary in Cuzco on December 5, 2012.And the enthusiasm for seeing such rare and beautiful wildlife, for many of the experts, borders on obsession ... A birdwatcher takes part in the Birding Rally Challenge near the Machu Picchu sanctuary in Cuzco on December 5, 2012.A lot of ......(size: 3.6Kb)
Bloomberg
12 Dec 2012
colleges refinance their loans at lower rates ... “As I understand it, the schools they are targeting are schools where students tend to have better job prospects and have higher salaries coming out of school,” said Judah Kaplan, co-founder of Great Neck, New York-based Cuzco Capital Investors Fund LLC, which invests in delinquent consumer debt, adding he did not have specific details of SoFi’s strategy ... (KFN) ... 31, the SEC records show ... ....(size: 7.3Kb)
Bloomberg
11 Dec 2012
(H), Accor SA (AC) of France, Portugal’s Grupo Pestana SGPS SA and Colombia’s GHL Grupo de Hoteles and Hoteles Estelar Colombia SA are studying projects in Lima and cities such as Cuzco, Arequipa and Trujillo, said Jose Koechlin, president of Peru’s Hotel Association ... Marriott is looking to invest $104 million in hotels in Cuzco, Trujillo and Lima, ......(size: 2.0Kb)
Huffington Post
09 Dec 2012
This week saw a number of great animal stories to bring you holiday cheer. The National Zoo in Washington, D.C ... Find some of the week's best animal photos below. ... A hummingbird flies close to a flower during the Birding Rally Challenge at 'Aguas Calientes' Cuzco on December 05, 2012 ... A hummingbird flies arround a flower during the Birding Rally Challenge at 'Aguas Calientes' near the Machu Picchu sanctuary in Cuzco on December 05, 2012 ... ....(size: 10.5Kb)
The Daily Telegraph Australia
08 Dec 2012
YOU'VE holidayed as a family at Disneyland, New York or Hawaii and the kids are ready to graduate from playing on the beach in Fiji. So now you're ready for a family adventure. Here are five suggestions for a family holiday in South America. ... When travelling to Machu Picchu, it's wise for families to acclimatise at a lower altitude in the Sacred Valley, rather than Cuzco ... See peru.travel ... See www.argentina.travel. 3 Ecuador ... ....(size: 5.5Kb)
noodls
06 Dec 2012
NATCHITOCHES - In 1831 a young naturalist boarded the HMS Beagle in England embarking on a five-year journey that led to the discovery of the Galapagos Islands, so named for the giant tortoises -- relics from the dinosaur age -- that reside there ... Today it is the most visited site in Peru and is most popularly accessed by train ... The trip also includes conducted sightseeing tours of Cuzco, Quito, and Lima, Peru ... distributed by ... (noodl....(size: 3.7Kb)
noodls
05 Dec 2012
Date. December 4, 2012. Contact. Linda Friar, 305-242-7700. Homestead, Florida - Ms. Ada Castillo. Ordinola, a senior manager in the Peruvian. park service, is completing a World Heritage. Fellowship at Everglades National Park,. studying sustainable park management. During. her six week course of study, Ms. Castillo. Ordinola is learning about methods used in the ... in 1979 ... enable Ms ... Cuzco in May and a hands-on volunteer ... marketplace in Cuzco....(size: 7.9Kb)
The Times of India
24 Nov 2012
This person was Albert Giesecke, a 29-year-old US academic who was the dean of the Universidad San Antonio Abad in Cuzco and gave him the references and even the name of Melchor Arteaga, the peasant who later guided Bingham to the famous ruins July 24, 1911 ... The most famous of all of them was Cuzco landowner Agustin Lizarraga, who arrived at the ......(size: 4.1Kb)
MSNBC
15 Nov 2012
Archaeologists are known for discovering tombs, pyramids, paintings and gold treasures, but now two researchers report the discovery of something rather different, and newer — a marriage proposal, carved in stone ... Ursula Frederick This inscription is dated October 1895 and was created by someone from the RMS Cuzco ... Another interesting inscription, carved in relief, reads "RMS (Oct) (1895) Cuzco, In Loving Memory of Irish Stew." ... Gallery....(size: 6.3Kb)
Yahoo Daily News
15 Nov 2012
Archaeologists are known for discovering tombs, pyramids, paintings and gold treasures, but now two researchers report the discovery of something rather different, and newer — a marriage proposal, carved in stone ... "Rebecca will you marry me? Tim." ... "You can make up all sorts of stories." ... Inscriptions from those quarantined ... Another interesting inscription, carved in relief, reads "RMS (Oct) (1895) Cuzco, In Loving Memory of Irish Stew."...(size: 9.5Kb)
Yahoo Daily News
15 Nov 2012
A comfortable early retirement left Len Stanmore wondering what comes next. He climbed to a new level of satisfaction when he began to conquer a series of athletic tests around the world, putting him on the verge of setting a world record ... The story starts when Mr ... Related ... Money collected from his "The Last Desert" run will be used to support charitable projects in Moshi, Tanzania; Cuzco, Peru; and Kathmandu, Nepal ... Related ... ... ....(size: 10.5Kb)
Newstrack India
14 Nov 2012
This article is about the city in Peru. For other uses, see Cusco (disambiguation).
| Cusco | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cusco / Cuzco (Spanish) Qosqo (Quechua) |
|||
 |
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|
|||
| Nickname(s): La Ciudad Imperial (The Imperial City) | |||
 |
|||
 Cusco
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| Coordinates: 13°31′30″S 71°58′20″W / 13.525°S 71.97222°W / -13.525; -71.97222Coordinates: 13°31′30″S 71°58′20″W / 13.525°S 71.97222°W / -13.525; -71.97222 | |||
| Country |  Peru |
||
| Region | Cusco | ||
| Province | Cusco | ||
| Founded | 1100 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Type | City | ||
| • Mayor | Luis Florez | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 70,015 km2 (27,033 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 3,399 m (11,152 ft) | ||
| Population 2007 | |||
| • Total | 358,935 | ||
| • Density | 5.1/km2 (13/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | PET (UTC-5) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | PET (UTC-5) | ||
| Area code(s) | 84 | ||
| Website | www.municusco.gob.pe | ||
| Official name: City of Cuzco | |||
| Type: | Cultural | ||
| Criteria: | iii, iv | ||
| Designated: | 1983 (7th session) | ||
| Reference #: | 273 | ||
| State Party: | Peru |
||
| Region: | Latin America and the Caribbean | ||
Cusco ( /ˈkuːzkoʊ/), often spelled Cuzco (Spanish: Cuzco, IPA: [ˈkuθko] or [ˈkusko]; Quechua: Qusqu or Qosqo, IPA: [ˈqɔsqɔ]), is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cuzco Province. In 2007, the city had a population of 358,935 which was triple the figure of 20 years ago. Located on the eastern end of the Knot of Cuzco, its elevation is around 3,400 m (11,200 ft).
Cathedral at night, Plaza de Armas, Cusco
Cathedral and Company of Jesus, Cusco
Cusco was the site of the historic capital of the Inca Empire and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983 by UNESCO. It is a major tourist destination and receives almost 2 million visitors a year. It is designated as the Historical Capital of Peru by the Constitution of Peru.[1]
Contents |
Spelling and etymology[link]
The aboriginal name of this city was Qusqu. Although it was used in Quechua, its origin has been found in the Aymara language. The word itself originated in the phrase qusqu wanka ('Rock of the owl'), attending to the foundational myth of the Ayar Siblings. According to this legend, Ayar Auca (Ayar Awqa) got wings and flew to the site of the future city and transformed into a rock to mark the possession of the land by his ayllu ('linage').[2]
"¡Go fly over there (they say his wings were born), and by sitting down there take possession in the very seat where that milestone appears, because we'll then settle and live there". Ayar Auca, after hearing the words of his brother, rose on his wings and went to that place Manco Cápac commanded him, he sat there and turned himself into stone and became a possession mark, which in the ancient language of this valley is called cozco, therefore this place remained with the name of Cozco until today.—Juan Diez de Betanzos, Suma y narración de los incas.
The Spanish conquistadors adopted the local name, transliterating it into Spanish as Cuzco or less often Cozco. Cuzco was the standard spelling on official documents and chronicles at the colonial epoch.[3] In 1976, the City Mayor of Cuzco signed an ordinance banning the traditional spelling and ordering the use of a new one, Cusco, in the municipality publications. Nineteen years later, in 23 June 1990, the local authorities officialized a brand new spelling instead: Qosqo.
In English, both s[4][5] and z[6][7] are accepted, as there is no international "official" spelling.[8] The Encyclopædia Britannica uses "Cuzco".
History[link]
Killke culture[link]
The Killke occupied the region from 900 to 1200, prior to the arrival of the Incas in the 13th century. Carbon-14 dating of Sacsayhuaman, the walled complex outside Cusco, has demonstrated that the Killke culture constructed the fortress about 1100. The Inca later expanded and occupied the complex in the 13th century and after. On 13 March 2008, archaeologists discovered the ruins of an ancient temple, roadway and acqueduct system at Sacsayhuaman.[9] This find plus the results of excavations in 2007, when another temple was found at the edge of the fortress, indicates religious as well as military use of the facility.[10]
Inca history[link]
See also: Kingdom of Cusco and Inca Empire
Cuzco was the capital of the Inca Empire (13th century-1532). Many believe that the city was planned as an effigy in the shape of a puma, a sacred animal.[11] Under the Inca, the city had two sectors: the urin and hanan. Each was further divided to encompass two of the four provinces, Chinchasuyu (NW), Antisuyu (NE), Qontisuyu (SW) and Qullasuyu (SE). A road led from each of these 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 Cuzco, but only in the quarter that corresponded to the quarter of the empire in which he had territory. After the rule of Pachacuti, when an Inca died, his title went to one son and his property was given to a corporation controlled by his other relatives (the process was called split inheritance). 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.
According to Inca legend, the city was built by Sapa Inca Pachacuti, the man who transformed the Kingdom of Cuzco from a sleepy city-state into the vast empire of Tahuantinsuyu. Archaeological evidence, however, points to a slower, more organic growth of the city beginning before Pachacuti. The city was constructed according to a definite plan, and two rivers were channeled around the city. Archaeologists such as Larry Coben have suggested the city plan was replicated at other sites throughout the empire.
The city fell to the sphere of Huáscar in the division of the empire after the death of Huayna Capac in 1527. It was captured by the generals of Atahualpa in April 1532 in the Battle of Quipaipan. Nineteen months later, Spanish explorers invaded the city (see battle of Cuzco).
It is unknown how Cuzco was built, or how its stones were quarried.
Cusco after the Spanish invasion[link]
The first Spaniards arrived in the city on 15 November 1533. Francisco Pizarro officially arrived in Cuzco on 23 March 1534, renaming it the "Very noble and great city of Cuzco". The many buildings constructed after the Hispanic invasion have a mixture of Spanish influence with Inca indigenous architecture, including the Santa Clara and San Blas neighborhoods. The Spanish destroyed many Inca buildings, temples and palaces. They used the remaining walls as bases for the construction of a new city.
The city was retaken from the Spanish during the Siege of Cuzco of 1536 by Manco Inca Yupanqui, a leader of the Sapa Inca. Although the siege lasted ten months, it was ultimately unsuccessful. Manco's forces were able to reclaim the city for only a few days. Throughout the conflict and years of the Spanish colonization of the Americas many of Inca citizens and warriors succumbed to smallpox and died.
Cuzco stands on layers of cultures, with the Tawantinsuyu (old Inca Empire) built on Killke structures, and the Spanish having replaced indigenous temples with Catholic churches, and palaces with mansions for the invaders.
Cuzco was the center for the Spanish colonization and spread of Christianity in the Andean world. It became very prosperous thanks to agriculture, cattle raising, and mining, as well as its trade with Spain. The Spanish colonists constructed many churches and convents, as well as a cathedral, university and Archbishopric. Just as the Inca built on top of Killke structures, Spanish buildings were based on the massive stone walls built by the Inca.
A major earthquake on 21 May 1950 caused severe localised damage in Cuzco. The Dominican Priory and Church of Santo Domingo, which were built on top of the impressive Qoricancha (Temple of the Sun), were among the colonial era buildings affected. The city's Inca architecture, however, withstood the earthquake. Many of the old Inca walls were at first thought to have been lost after the earthquake, but the granite retaining walls of the Qoricancha were exposed, as well as those of other ancient structures throughout the city. Restoration work at the Santo Domingo complex was conducted in such a way as to expose the Inca masonry formerly obscured by the super-structure without compromising the integrity of the colonial heritage.[12] Cuzco had also been the center of a major earthquake in 1650, and many of the buildings damaged in 1950 had been impacted by an earthquake only nine years previously.[13]
Cristo Blanco in the surrounding mountains of Cusco
Night View of Plaza Regocijo, Cusco
Night view of the Coricancha and Convent of St. Dominic
Republican era[link]
After Peru declared its independence in 1821, Cuzco maintained its importance within the administrative structure of the country. Upon independence, the government created the Department of Cuzco, maintaining authority over territory extending to the Brazilian border. Cuzco was made capital of the department; subsequently it became the most important city in the south-eastern Andean region.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the city's urban sprawl spread to the neighboring districts of Santiago and Wanchaq.
In 1911, explorer Hiram Bingham used the city as a base for the expedition in which he rediscovered the ruins of Machu Picchu.
Honors[link]
- In 1933, the Congress of Americanists met in La Plata, Argentina and declared the city as the Archeological Capital of the Americas.
- In 1978, the 7th Convention of Mayors of Great World Cities met in Milan, Italy and declared Cusco a Cultural Heritage of the World.
- In 1983, UNESCO, in Paris, France declared the city a World Heritage Site. The Peruvian government declared it the Tourism Capital of Peru and Cultural Heritage of the Nation.
- In 2007, the New7Wonders Foundation designated Machu Picchu one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, following a worldwide poll.[14]
Present[link]
A 1950 earthquake shook the city, causing the destruction of more than one third of the city's structures. Later, the city began to establish itself as a focal point for tourism and began to receive a greater number of tourists.
Since the 1990s, tourism has increased. Currently, Cusco is the most important tourist destination in Peru. Under the administration of mayor Daniel Estrada Pérez, a staunch supporter of the Academia Mayor de la Lengua Quechua, between 1983 and 1995 the Quechua name Qosqo was officially adopted for the city.
Geography[link]
The city of Cuzco extends throughout the Huatanay river valley. Located on the eastern end of the Knot of Cuzco, its elevation is around 3,300 m (10,800 ft). North to Cuzco is the range of Cordillera Vilcabamba with 4–6000 m high mountains. The highest peak is Nevado Salcantay (6271 m) about 60 km (37.28 mi) northwest of Cuzco.[15]
Climate[link]
Cusco has a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb). Its climate is generally dry and temperate, with two defined seasons. The dry season lasts from April to October, with abundant sunshine, and occasional nighttime freezes: July is the coolest month with an average of 9.6 °C (49.3 °F). The wet season lasts from November to March, with night frost less common: November averages 13.4 °C (56.1 °F). Although frost and hail are common, snow is virtually unheard of. The only snowfall ever recorded was in June 1911.
Cusco was found in 2006 to be the spot on Earth with the highest ultraviolet light level.[16]
| Climate data for Cuzco | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 28 (82) |
27 (81) |
26 (79) |
26 (79) |
26 (79) |
25 (77) |
25 (77) |
25 (77) |
27 (81) |
29 (84) |
28 (82) |
27 (81) |
29 (84) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 18.9 (66.0) |
18.8 (65.8) |
19.1 (66.4) |
19.7 (67.5) |
19.8 (67.6) |
19.5 (67.1) |
19.1 (66.4) |
19.8 (67.6) |
19.8 (67.6) |
20.9 (69.6) |
20.7 (69.3) |
19.4 (66.9) |
19.6 (67.3) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 6.6 (43.9) |
6.5 (43.7) |
6.2 (43.2) |
4.9 (40.8) |
2.5 (36.5) |
0.3 (32.5) |
0.1 (32.2) |
1.6 (34.9) |
3.9 (39.0) |
5.5 (41.9) |
6.1 (43.0) |
6.4 (43.5) |
4.2 (39.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 3 (37) |
2 (36) |
2 (36) |
−4 (25) |
−4 (25) |
−5 (23) |
−9 (16) |
−5 (23) |
−1 (30) |
−1 (30) |
1 (34) |
1 (34) |
−9 (16) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 145.3 (5.72) |
133.7 (5.264) |
107.0 (4.213) |
43.2 (1.701) |
8.7 (0.343) |
1.5 (0.059) |
4.0 (0.157) |
8.6 (0.339) |
21.8 (0.858) |
39.4 (1.551) |
71.9 (2.831) |
122.7 (4.831) |
707.8 (27.866) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 18 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 102 |
| Source no. 1: World Meteorological Organisation (UN)[17] | |||||||||||||
| Source no. 2: BBC Weather[18] | |||||||||||||
Main sights[link]
Although the original Inca city was said to have been founded in the 11th century, more recently scholars have established that Inca did not occupy the area until after 1200 AD. Before them the indigenous people of the Killke culture built the walled complex of Sacsayhuaman about 1100 AD. In November 2008, archeological researchers found that the Killke also built a major temple near Sacsayhuaman, as well as an acqueduct and roadway connecting prehistoric structures.
The Spanish explorer Pizarro sacked much of the Inca city in 1535. Remains of the palace of the Incas, the Temple of the Sun, and the Temple of the Virgins of the Sun still stand. In addition, Inca buildings and foundations in some cases have proved to be stronger than the foundations built in present-day Peru. Among the most noteworthy Spanish colonial buildings of the city is the Cathedral of Santo Domingo, Cusco.
The major nearby Inca sites are Pachacuti's presumed winter home, Machu Picchu, which can be reached on foot by an Inca trail or by train; and the "fortress" at Ollantaytambo. Sacsayhuaman was expanded by the Inca.
Less-visited ruins include: Inca Wasi, the highest of all Inca sites at 3,980 m (13,060 ft); Old Vilcabamba the capital of the Inca after the capture of Cuzco; the sculpture garden at Chulquipalta (aka Chuquipalta, Ñusta España, The White Rock, Yurak Rumi); Tipón with working water channels in wide terraces; as well as Willkaraqay, Patallacta, Choquequirao, Moray, and many others.
The surrounding area, located in the Huatanay Valley, is strong in gold mining and agriculture, including corn, barley, quinoa, tea and coffee.
Cusco's main stadium Estadio Garcilaso de la Vega was the site of South America's continental soccer championship, the Copa América 2004 held in Peru. The stadium is home to one of the country's most successful soccer clubs, Cienciano.
The city is served by Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport.
Architectural heritage[link]
Because of its antiquity and importance, the center of the city retains many buildings, plazas and streets of pre-Columbian times and colonial buildings, which led to his being declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1983. Among the main sights of the city are:
[edit] Barrio de San Blas
This neighborhood housing artisans, workshops and craft shops, is one of the most picturesque sites in the city. Its streets are steep and narrow with old houses built by the Spanish over important Inca foundations. It has an attractive square and the oldest parish church in Cuzco, built in 1563, which has a carved wooden pulpit considered the epitome of Colonial era woodwork in Cuzco.
The Quechua name of this neighborhood is Toq'ocachi which means the opening of the Salt
[edit] Calle Hatun Rumiyuq
This street is the most visited by tourists. On the street Hatun Rumiyoq ("Of the Old Rock") was the palace of Inca Roca, which was converted to the Archbishop's residence.
Along this street that runs from the Plaza de Armas to the Barrio de San Blas, one can see the Stone of Twelve Angles, which is viewed as marvel of ancient stonework and has become emblematic of the city's history.
Convent and Church of la Merced[link]
Its foundation dates from 1536. The first complex was destroyed by the earthquake of 1650 and the rebuilding of the church and convent was completed in 1675.
Its cloisters of Baroque Renaissance style, choir stalls, colonial paintings and wood carvings are highlights of a visit to this church, now a popular museum and tourist attraction.
Also on view is an elaborate monstrance made of gold and gemstones which weighs 22 kg and is 130 cm (51.18 in) in height.
Cathedral[link]
Main article: Cathedral of Santo Domingo, Cusco
The first cathedral built in Cuzco is the Iglesia del Triunfo, built in 1539 on the foundations of the Palace of Viracocha Inca. Today, this church is an auxiliary chapel of the Cathedral.
The main basilica cathedral of the city was built between 1560 and 1664. Stone was used as the main material, which was extracted from nearby quarries, although some blocks of red granite were taken from the fortress of Sacsayhuamán.
This great cathedral presents late-Gothic, Baroque, and plateresque interiors and has one of the most outstanding examples of colonial goldwork. Its carved wooden altars are also important.
The city developed a distinctive style of painting known as the "Cuzco School", and the cathedral houses a major collection of local artists of the time. The cathedral is known for a Cuzco School painting of the Last Supper depicting Jesus and the twelve apostles feasting on guinea pig, a traditional Andean delicacy.
The cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of Cuzco.
[edit] Plaza de Armas
Known as the "Square of the warrior" in the Inca era, this plaza has been the scene of several important events in the history of this city, such as the proclamation by Francisco Pizarro in the conquest of Cuzco.
Similarly, the Plaza de Armas was the scene of the death of Túpac Amaru II, considered the indigenous leader of the resistance.
The Spanish built stone arcades around the plaza which endure to this day. The main cathedral and the Church of La Compañía both open directly onto the plaza.
[edit] Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesus
This church (Church of the Society of Jesus}, whose construction was initiated by the Jesuits in 1576 on the foundations of the Amarucancha or the palace of the Inca ruler Huayna Capac, is considered one of the best examples of colonial baroque style in the Americas.
Its façade is carved in stone and its main altar is made of carved wood covered with gold leaf. It was built over an underground chapel and has a valuable collection of colonial paintings of the Cusco School.
Coricancha and Convent of Santo Domingo[link]
Main article: Coricancha
The Coricancha (Quri Kancha or "Golden Temple") was the most important sanctuary dedicated to the Sun God (Inti) at the time of the Inca Empire. This temple was named because all its walls were once covered with gold plates by the Incas.
With this structure as a foundation, colonists built the Convent of Santo Domingo (St. Dominic) in the Renaissance style. The building, with one baroque tower, exceeds the height of many other buildings in this city.
Inside is a large collection of paintings from the Cuzco School.
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1614 | 5,000 | — |
| 1761 | 6,600 | +32.0% |
| 1812 | 6,900 | +4.5% |
| 1820 | 9,000 | +30.4% |
| 1827 | 15,000 | +66.7% |
| 1850 | 16,000 | +6.7% |
| 1861 | 15,000 | −6.3% |
| 1877 | 17,000 | +13.3% |
| 1890 | 18,900 | +11.2% |
| 1896 | 20,000 | +5.8% |
| 1900 | 25,000 | +25.0% |
| 1908 | 33,900 | +35.6% |
| 1920 | 30,500 | −10.0% |
| 1925 | 32,000 | +4.9% |
| 1927 | 33,000 | +3.1% |
| 1931 | 35,900 | +8.8% |
| 1940 | 40,600 | +13.1% |
| 1945 | 45,600 | +12.3% |
| 1951 | 50,000 | +9.6% |
| 1953 | 54,000 | +8.0% |
| 1961 | 80,100 | +48.3% |
| 1969 | 115,300 | +43.9% |
| 1981 | 180,227 | +56.3% |
| 1993 | 250,270 | +38.9% |
| 1997 | 275,318 | +10.0% |
| 2000 | 295,530 | +7.3% |
| 2005 | 320,900 | +8.6% |
| 2006 | 338,965 | +5.6% |
| 2007 | 390,000 | +15.1% |
| 2008 | 463,000 | +18.7% |
| 2009 | 510,000 | +10.2% |
Population[link]
Until the late 18th century Cusco was the most populous city in the continent, even more than Lima. But because of the great revolution of Túpac Amaru II in 1780, the white population migrated to Arequipa, considered safer from a possible new uprising. So, until the 20th century, the population was largely mestizo and indigenous, but now the white population has grown significantly in the city as high as 30%, as it is experiencing a demographic explosion process led by the tourism boom.
The city has a population of 358,935 people in 2007 according to INEI and ca. 510,000 people by 2009.
| City district | Extension km² |
Population 2007 census(hab) |
Housing (2007) |
Density (hab/km²) |
Elevation msl |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cuzco | 116.22 km² | 108,798* | 28,476 | 936.1 | 3,399 msl | |
| San Jerónimo | 103.34 km² | 28,856* | 8,942 | 279.2 | 3,244 msl | |
| San Sebastian | 89.44 km² | 85,472* | 18,109 | 955.6 | 3,244 msl | |
| Santiago | 69.72 km² | 66,277* | 21,168 | 950.6 | 3,400 msl | |
| Wanchaq | 6.38 km² | 54,524* | 14,690 | 8,546.1 | 3,366 msl | |
| Total | 385.1 km² | 358,052* | 91,385 | 929.76 | — | |
| *Census data conducted by INEI[19] | ||||||
Food[link]
As headquarters to the Inca Empire, Cuzco was an important agricultural region. It was a natural reserve for thousands of native Peruvian species, including around 2,000 varieties of potato cultivated by the people.[20] Recently many fusion and neo-Andean restaurants have developed in Cuzco, in which the cuisine is prepared with modern techniques and incorporates a blend of traditional Andean and international ingredients.[21] Also, a cacao and chocolate museum, ChocoMuseo, recently opened in the center of the city. The purpose of this place is to teach people about Peruvian cacao and also the whole process to make artisanal chocolate.
Industry[link]
International relations[link]
Twin towns and sister cities[link]
|
|
Partnerships[link]
Gallery[link]
-
Church of La Compañia de Jesus on the Plaza de Armas
-
12-sided stone
-
Chapel of the Holy Family / Capilla de la Sagrada Familia
-
Old streets in the city center
-
Panorama
-
Cristo Blanco (White Christ)
-
Panorama of Cusco from Coricancha
In modern culture[link]
- In the children's movie The Emperor's New Groove and its spin-off animated television series The Emperor's New School, the main protagonist is "Kuzco", the young, often immature fictional emperor of the Incas.
- "Cuzco" was the name of a song on E.S. Posthumus' 2001 album Unearthed. Each song on the album was named after an ancient city.
- The Anthony Horowitz novel Evil Star takes places partly in Cusco.
- Cuzco is the city where the legendary radio presenter John Peel died whilst on a working holiday.
See also[link]
- Inca road system
- Governorate of New Castile
- Cusco School
- Iperu, tourist information and assistance
- Tourism in Peru
- List of archaeoastronomical sites sorted by country
- PeruRail
- Pambokancha, Inca religious site
References[link]
- Notes
- ^ "Constitución del Perъ de 1993". Pdba.georgetown.edu. http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Peru/per93reforms05.html#titIIcapI. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
- ^ Cerrón-Palomino, Rodolfo (2007). "Cuzco: La piedra donde se posó la lechuza. Historia de un nombre.". Andina (Lima) 44: 143–174. ISBN 0259-9600.
- ^ Carrión Ordóñez, Enrique (1993). "Cuzco, con Z". Histórica (Lima) XVII: 267–270.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ [2][dead link]
- ^ "City of Cusco – UNESCO World Heritage Centre". Whc.unesco.org. 21 August 2007. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/273. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
- ^ "Cusco Travel Information and Travel Guide – Peru". Lonely Planet. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/peru/cusco/. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
- ^ of words in English
- ^ Kelly Hearn, "Ancient Temple Discovered Among Inca Ruins", National Geographic News, 31 March 2008, accessed 12 January 2010
- ^ "NEWS - Comcast.net". Comcast.net<!. http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2008/03/14/911994.html&cookieattempt=1. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
- ^ "The history of Cusco". cusco.net<!. http://www.cusco.net/articulos/cuscoinca.htm#Puma. Retrieved 25 July 2009.
- ^ "Koricancha Temple and Santo Domingo Convent – Cusco, Peru". Sacred-destinations.com. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/peru/cusco-koricancha.htm. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ "The Cusco, Peru, Earthquake of May 21, 1950 – ERICKSEN et al. 44 (2): 97 – Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America". Bssa.geoscienceworld.org. http://bssa.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/44/2A/97. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ Reuters via ABC News Australia "Opera House snubbed as new Wonders unveiled" 7 July 2007
- ^ Andes map
- ^ Liley, J. Ben and McKenzie, Richard L. (April 2006) "Where on Earth has the highest UV?" UV Radiation and its Effects: an update NIWA Science, Hamilton, NZ;
- ^ "World Weather Information Service – Cuzco". UN. http://worldweather.wmo.int/029/c00110.htm. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
- ^ "Average Conditions Cusco, Peru". BBC Weather. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/city_guides/results.shtml?tt=TT001930. Retrieved March 2010.
- ^ Censo 2005 INEI
- ^ "Cusco, Peru Bans GM Products To Protect Diversity Of Native Potatoes". scidev.net. http://www.scidev.net/en/news/peru-city-bans-gm-to-protect-native-potatoes.html. Retrieved 21 Feb 2012.
- ^ Guide to Peruvian Food, Cusco Reference
- ^ "Ciudades Hermanas (Sister Cities)" (in Spanish). Municipalidad del Cusco. http://www.municusco.gob.pe/ver.php?id=6. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
- ^ "::Bethlehem Municipality::". bethlehem-city.org. http://www.bethlehem-city.org/Twining.php. Retrieved 10 October 2009.
- ^ "Kraków otwarty na świat". krakow.pl. http://www.krakow.pl/otwarty_na_swiat/?LANG=UK&MENU=l&TYPE=ART&ART_ID=16. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
External links[link]
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Cusco travel guide from Wikitravel
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There are many people in history who are commonly appended with the phrase "the Great", or who were called that or an equivalent phrase in their own language. Other languages have their own suffixes such as e Bozorg and e azam in Persian and Urdu respectively.
In Persia, the title "the Great" at first seems to be a colloquial version of the Old Persian title "Great King". This title was first used by the conqueror Cyrus II of Persia.[1]
The Persian title was inherited by Alexander III of Macedon (336–323 BC) when he conquered the Persian Empire, and the epithet "Great" eventually became personally associated with him. The first reference (in a comedy by Plautus)[2] assumes that everyone knew who "Alexander the Great" was; however, there is no earlier evidence that Alexander III of Macedon was called "the Great".
The early Seleucid kings, who succeeded Alexander in Persia, used "Great King" in local documents, but the title was most notably used for Antiochus the Great (223–187 BC).
Later rulers and commanders began to use the epithet "the Great" as a personal name, like the Roman general Pompey. Others received the surname retrospectively, like the Carthaginian Hanno and the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great. Once the surname gained currency, it was also used as an honorific surname for people without political careers, like the philosopher Albert the Great.
As there are no objective criteria for "greatness", the persistence of later generations in using the designation greatly varies. For example, Louis XIV of France was often referred to as "The Great" in his lifetime but is rarely called such nowadays, while Frederick II of Prussia is still called "The Great". A later Hohenzollern - Wilhelm I - was often called "The Great" in the time of his grandson Wilhelm II, but rarely later.
Contents |
Rulers[link]
- Abbas I of Persia (1571–1629), Shah of Iran
- Akbar (1542–1605), ruler of the Mughal Empire of South Asia, mainly India
- Alain I of Albret (1440–1522), French aristocrat
- Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), King of Macedonia, Persia, Greece, Egypt, and all of Mesopotamia
- Alexander I of Georgia (1386–1446), King of Georgia
- Alfonso III of León (c. 848-910), King of León, Galicia and Asturias
- Alfred the Great (848/849-899), King of Wessex
- Antiochus III the Great (c. 241–187 BC), ruler of the Seleucid Empire
- Ashoka the Great (c. 304–232 BC), Indian emperor of the Maurya dynasty
- Ashot I of Iberia “the Great”(died 826/830), presiding prince of Iberia (modern Georgia),
- Askia Mohammad I (c. 1442–1538), ruler of the Songhai Empire
- Bhumibol Adulyadej (born 1927), King of Thailand
- Bolesław I Chrobry (967-1025), sometimes called "the Great", first King of Poland
- Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the following section)
- Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (1736–1809), founder and ruler of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (in what is now Thailand)
- Cnut the Great (c. 985 or 995-1035), King of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden
- Casimir III the Great (1310–1370), King of Poland
- Catherine the Great (1729–1796), Empress of Russia
- Chandragupta II (reigned 375-413/415), also known as Vikramaditya, ruler of the Gupta empire in India
- Charlemagne (died 814), King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans
- Chulalongkorn (1853–1910), King of Siam (now Thailand)
- Chlothar II (584-629), King of Neustria and King of the Franks
- Conrad, Margrave of Meissen (c. 1097-1157), Margrave of Meissen
- Constantine I (c. 272-337), Roman emperor
- Cyaxares the Great (c. 625-585 BC), third king of Media
- Cyrus the Great (c. 600 BC or 576 BC–530 BC), founder and ruler of the Persian or Achaemenid Empire
- Darius the Great (550 – 486 BC), third ruler of the Persian Empire
- Devapala (died 850), ruler of the Pala Empire in the Indian subcontinent
- Dionysius I, Greek tyrant of Syracuse[3]
- Ferdinand I of León and Castile (c. 1015–1065), King of León and Count of Castile
- Frederick the Great (1712–1786), King of Prussia
- Genghis Khan (1162?-1227), founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire
- Gero (c. 900–965), ruler of Marca Geronis, a very large march in Europe
- Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (1594–1632), King of Sweden, founder of the Swedish Empire, and noted military leader
- Gwanggaeto the Great, King of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea[4][5]
- Hanno the Great, the name of three leaders of Carthage, in the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd centuries BC
- Henry I, Duke of Burgundy (946–1002)
- Henry IV of France (1553–1610), King of France and King of Navarre
- Herod the Great (73/74 BC-4 BC), King of Judea
- Hugh the Great (898-956), Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris
- Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France
- Hugh I, Count of Vermandois (1057–1101)
- Humphrey I de Bohun (died c. 1123), Anglo-Norman aristocrat
- Ivan III of Russia (1440–1505), Tsar of Russia
- John I of Portugal (1358–1433), King of Portugal and the Algarve
- John II of Aragon (1398–1479), King of Aragon and, through his wife, King of Navarre
- Justinian I (483-565), Byzantine Emperor
- Kamehameha I (c. 1758-1819), first King of Hawai'i
- Kanishka (died c. 127), ruler of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia and parts of India
- Kvirike III of Kakheti (1010–1029), King of Kakheti in eastern Georgia
- Kublai Khan (1215–1294), Mongol ruler in the 13th century and Emperor of China; founder of the Yuan Dynasty
- Llywelyn the Great (c. 1172–1240), Prince of Gwynedd and de facto ruler of most of Wales
- Louis I of Hungary (1326–1382), King of Hungary, Croatia and Poland
- Mangrai the Great (1238–1317), Lanna, northern Thailand
- Emperor Meiji (1852–1912), Emperor of Japan
- Mircea I of Wallachia (1355–1418)
- Mithridates II of Parthia (died 88 BC), ruler of the Parthian Empire (in present day Iran)
- Mithridates VI of Pontus (134 BC–63 BC), ruler of Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom
- Mstislav I of Kiev (1076–1132), Grand Prince of Kievan Rus
- Naresuan (1555–1605), King of Ayutthaya
- Narai (1633–1688), King of Ayutthaya (in what is now modern Thailand)
- Odo the Great (died c. 735), Duke of Aquitaine
- Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (912-973)
- K'inich Janaab' Pakal (603-683), ruler of the Mayan city-state of Palenque
- Parakramabahu I of Polonnaruwa (1123–1186), King of Sri Lanka
- Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia (died 1075), King of Croatia
- Peter the Great (1672–1725), Tsar of Russia
- Peter III of Aragon (1239–1285), King of Aragon and King of Sicily
- Pompey (106 BC-48 BC), military and political leader of the late Roman Republic, rival of Julius Caesar
- Radama I (1793–1828), first king of greater Madagascar
- Raja Raja Chola I (c. 947-1014), Indian emperor of the Cholas.[6][7][8]
- Rajendra Chola I (reigned 1014–1044), Tamil King of India
- Ramesses II (reigned 1279 BC – 1213 BC), considered the greatest pharaoh of Ancient Egypt
- Ram Khamhaeng (around 1237 to 1247-1298), King of Sukhothai (in present day Thailand)
- Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona (1082–1131), also Count of Provence and various other counties
- Rhodri the Great (c. 820–878), King of Gwynedd (in present day Wales)
- Roman the Great (after 1160-1205), Grand Prince of Kiev
- Saladin (c. 1138-1193), Kurdish Sultan of Egypt and Syria, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, and victor over the Crusaders
- Samudragupta (c. 335–375), ruler of the Gupta empire in the Indian subcontinent
- Sancho III of Navarre (c. 992-1035), King of Kingdom of Navarre
- Sargon of Akkad (died c. 2215 BC), ruler of the Akkadian Empire
- Sejong the Great (1397–1450), Korean king[9]
- Shapur II (309-379), king of the Sassanid Empire, Persia
- Simeon I of Bulgaria (864/865-927), ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire
- Stephen III of Moldavia (1433–1504), Prince of Moldavia (Romania)
- Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia (c. 1308-1355), King of Serbia and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks
- Taksin (1734–1782), King of the Thonburi Kingdom (Thailand)
- Tamar (1160-1123), Queen of the Georgian Empire
- Timur (1336–1405), better known as Tamerlane, founder of the Timurid Dynasty
- Theobald II, Count of Champagne (1090–1151), Count of Blois and of Chartres as Theobald IV, Count of Champagne and of Brie
- Theodoric the Great (454-526), King of the Ostrogoths, regent of the Visigoths and a viceroy of the Byzantine Empire
- Theodosius I (347-395), Roman emperor
- Tigranes the Great (140-55 BC), Emperor of Armenia
- Tiridates III of Armenia (285-339), King of Armenia
- Umar (c. 586 to 590–644), second caliph of the Muslim Empire
- Valdemar I of Denmark (1131–1182), King of Denmark
- Valentinian I (364-375), Roman Emperor
- Vladimir I of Kiev (c. 958-1015), ruler of Kievan Rus
- Vytautas (c. 1350-1430), archduke of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy
- William I, Count of Burgundy (1020–1087), Count of Burgandy and Mâcon
- William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969-1030), also Count of Poitou
- Xerxes I (519-465 BC), King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire (Persia)
- Yu the Great (c. 2200-2100 BC), legendary ruler in ancient China
Religious figures[link]
- Abraham the Great of Kashkar (ca. 492-586), monk and saint of the Assyrian Church of the East
- Abraham Kidunaia (died c. 366, hermit, priest, and Christian saint of Mesopotamia
- Albertus Magnus (1193/1206–1280), medieval German philosopher and theologian
- Anthony the Great (c. 251–356), early Christian saint of Egypt
- Babai the Great (c. 551–628), Assyrian church leader
- Basil of Caesarea (330-379), Greek bishop and theologian
- Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the previous section)
- Euthymius the Great (377-473), abbot and Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint
- Gertrude the Great (1256-c. 1302), German Benedictine, mystic, theologian and Roman Catholic saint
- Pope Gregory I (c. 540-604)
- Hiyya the Great, 3rd-century rabbi, Palestine
- Pope John Paul II (1920–2005)
- Pope Leo I (c. 391 or 400-461)
- Macarius of Egypt (c. 300-391), Egyptian hermit
- Pope Nicholas I (c. 800-867)
- Photius I of Constantinople (c. 810–c. 893), Eastern Orthodox saint and Patriarch of Constantinople
- William of Maleval (died 1157), founder of the Catholic congregation of Williamites
Other[link]
- Beli Mawr, a figure in medieval Welsh literature and genealogies
- Emmy the Great, folk singer
- Matteo Rosso the Great, Roman politician and father of Pope Nicholas III
- Prokop the Great, Hussite general in Bohemia
See also[link]
- Epithet
- List of monarchs by nickname
- List of nicknames of European Royalty and Nobility: G-I
- James, son of Zebedee, also known as James the Greater, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus
- Ajax (mythology), called Ajax the Greater
- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, whose common honorific "Mahatma" means "Great Soul"
Notes[link]
- ^ In a clay cylinder (online). The expression was used in a propagandistic context: the conqueror wants to show he is a normal Babylonian ruler. The first Persian ruler to use the title in an Iranian context was Darius I of Persia (Darius the Great), in the Behistun Inscription (online).
- ^ Plautus, Mostellaria 775.
- ^ History, Instituto Geografico De Agostini S.p.A., p. 479
- ^ World and Its Peoples:Korea. Marshall Cavendish Corporation. September 2008. p. 887. ISBN 0-7614-7631-8.
- ^ Alison Behnke (2004). North Korea in Pictures. Twenty-First Century Books. p. 70. ISBN 0-8225-1908-9. http://books.google.com/?id=ovWvhyLc6hAC&pg=RA1-PA70&dq=%22Gwanggaeto+the+Great%22.
- ^ Sarkar, Benoy Kumar (December 1919). "An English History of India". Political Science Quarterly 34 (4): 644–653. DOI:10.2307/2142032. JSTOR 2142032. ""The finances of the state were not more centralized under Louis XIV than under Rajaraja the Great.""
- ^ "Heaven sent: Michael Wood explores the art of the Chola dynasty". Royal Academy, UK. http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/ra-magazine/winter2006/features/heven-sent,47,RAMA.html. Retrieved 2007-04-26.
- ^ "The Chola Dynasty: Accession of Rajaraja, the Great". Sify.com. http://sify.com/itihaas/fullstory.php?id=13219885. Retrieved 2007-04-26.
- ^ Christoph Bluth; Gareth Schott (2007). Korea. Polity. p. 10. ISBN 0-7456-3356-0.
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- For other uses, see Incarnation (Christianity) or Incarnate (disambiguation)
Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature (generally a human) who is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial.[1]
In its religious context the word is used to mean the descent from Heaven of a god, or divine being in human/animal form on Earth.
Contents |
Ancient Egypt[link]
The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt were sometimes said to be incarnations of the gods Horus and Ra.
Bahá'í[link]
Further information: God in the Bahá'í Faith
In the Bahá'í Faith, God is described as a single, imperishable God, the creator of all things, including all the creatures and forces in the universe. The connection between God and the world is that of the creator to his creation.[2] God is understood to be independent of his creation, and that creation is dependent and contingent on God. God, however, is not seen to be incarnated into this world and is not seen to be part of creation as he cannot be divided and does not descend to the condition of his creatures. Instead, in the Bahá'í understanding, the world of creation emanates from God, in that all things have been realized by him and have attained to existence.[3] The Bahá'í concept of the intermediary between God and humanity is expressed in the term Manifestation of God, which are a series of personages, such as Jesus and Bahá'u'lláh, who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world for the progress and advancement of human morals and civilization.[4] In expressing God's intent, these Manifestations are seen to establish religion in the world.[4] The Manifestations of God are also not seen as an incarnation of God, but are instead understood to be like a perfect mirror reflecting the attributes of God onto this material world.[4][5]
Buddhism[link]
See also: Rebirth (Buddhism)
In the teaching of the Buddha sentient beings incarnate due to the psychological factors of ignorance, craving and clinging which results in the phenomenon of becoming and rebirth. To be born human is considered a great privilege because unlike other mammals even a person of average intelligence with sufficient effort and proper guidance can walk the path of dharma and become liberated from the cycle of rebirth. The motive force in the process of material incarnation and becoming (popularly known as 'life') is attachment to and identification with matter. This ignorance gives rise to the volitional factors which are called sankharas. These sankharas through the infinite possibilities of worldly desires propel the human being through the pattern of repeated birth and death until the dawning of wisdom (awakening) brings about the desire for liberation.
According to Buddha's teaching the soul (as that structure of sankharas that gives rise to incarnation and animates the body during 'life') is not a fixed entity but in a state of constant flux - being modified over time by actions of body, speech and mind. The constant transmutation and interdependence of phenomena mean that nothing can be said in terms of ultimate truth to have a fixed identity. This is the doctrine of anatta, the no-self doctrine applying to all phenomena (see Three marks of existence).
Liberation in Buddhism is achieved when the stock of accumulated sankharas buried in the unconscious have been dissolved through the practise of the Noble Eightfold Path, a path leading to the experience called enlightenment (Bodhi in Sanskrit and Pali). At enlightenment all the causes for future rebirth have been deleted and the sage abides in a state of being called deathlessness (Amaravati or Amrta). Such a one - called an arahant or Buddha is no longer destined for reincarnation after death.
In Tibetan Buddhism, an enlightened spiritual teacher (lama) may choose to reincarnate after death in order to continue to help people. Such a teacher is called a tulku.
Christianity[link]
Main article: Incarnation (Christianity)
The Incarnation of Christ is a central Christian doctrine that God became flesh, assumed a human nature, and became a man in the form of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the second person of the Trinity. This foundational Christian position holds that the divine nature of the Son of God was perfectly united with human nature in one divine Person, Jesus, making him both truly God and truly man. The theological term for this is hypostatic union: the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, God the Son, became flesh when he was miraculously conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary.[6] Biblical passages traditionally referenced in connection with the doctrine of the Incarnation include John 1:14, Colossians 2:9, and Philippians 2:7-8.
Hinduism[link]
Main article: Avatar
In Hinduism, incarnation generally refers to an Avatar of Vishnu, the preserver in the Trimurti. Collectively, the 10 avatars of Vishnu are known as the dashavatara. Ganesha and Shiva also have avatars.
Islam[link]
Mainstream Islam[link]
Mainstream Islam completely rejects the doctrine of the incarnation of God in any form, as the concept is defined as Shirk. In mainstream Islam God is one and "neither begets nor is begotten".[7] Islam specifically rejects the Christian idea of Jesus as a divine incarnation, but rather Jesus is seen as a prophet (nabī) and messenger (rasūl) of God. The Qur'anic text itself seems to fully reject this concept according to mainstream interpretations. Sunnism is the most prominent sect to hold this belief.
Shia[link]
There are some hadiths which tell that Muhammad and his successors carry a divine succession from God.[clarification needed] Although not all Shiites claim this view, a rare few think that Imam Ali, believed to be the real caliph after Muhammad, was an incarnation of God and also God itself (see Ghulat).[clarification needed] This view is vigorously rejected by Sunnis and non-Ghulati shias.[clarification needed] The major conflict source between Sunnis and Shias is the Shias' believing Imam Ali to be the real caliph after Muhammad and accepting 12 "imans" as heirs of his "welayah" (rule). However, the Wahabi Muslims defend that some tales about shias incarnation create division between Shias and sunnis (both of whom they call brothers in the Quran). They also accuse the Shias of worshiping metals and woods (in fact the Shias only use them as "tabarrok" ("blesseds"/"blessed things"), just like "Hazrate Zahra" had used "tabarrok" first. In Shia philosophy, tabarrok is for showing your love to "ahle beit" ("household", the community of the devotees of Ali and Fatima) and requesting "shafa'at" (healing) from them because they believe that ahle beyt where the best God created and they use this method to have a better connection to Allah or to request "maghferat" (forgiveness) from God when they want to atone for sins and believe its an easier approach.
Ismailism[link]
The Aga Khan is the leader of the Ismailis and is believed that only he can fully understand and interpret the Quran. The Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims take the Aga Khan as an Imam (spiritual leader). In the Shia tariqah, the Light Of God (Noor) has always been present. The Islamic prophet Muhammed had this 'Noor'. There is a Hadith stating that Muhammad said "Ali and I are from the same Noor". As the Aga Khan is the direct descendant of Muhammad through Imam Ali and Bibi Fatima, the Noor has been passed down through them to him, since there needs to be a guide of the Ismailis present throughout history to interpret the Quran and give guidance to his followers as time goes by.[clarification needed]
Nation of Islam[link]
The founder of the US-based black nationalist Nation of Islam, Wallace Fard Muhammad, is believed by followers to be an incarnation of God, also considered to be the Messiah of Christianity and Mahdi of Islam.
Judaism[link]
Main articles: God in Judaism and Chabad-Lubavitch related controversies
Mainstream Judaism totally rejects any doctrine of an incarnation of God and absolutely rejects any concept of an incarnation of God in any form.[8] Jews especially rejected vehemently - even under penalty of death or threats of torture - the Christian idea of Jesus as a divine incarnation of God, and neither see Jesus as a Prophet nor Messiah.
However, some Hasidim believe in a somewhat similar concept. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a prominent Hasidic leader, said that the Rebbe is God's essence itself put into a body of a Tzaddik.[9] While many other Jews find this idea highly controversial, panentheism, i.e. considering everything and everyone as manifestations of God, is the accepted mainstream Hasidic and Kabbalistic doctrine.
The Kabbalah has an idea of gilgul (reincarnation) as part of the soul's journey to achieve perfection.
Rastafari[link]
The Rastafari movement views Haile Selassie I as God incarnate, who has come the second time as a deliverer.
Serer religion[link]
Main article: Serer religion
Serer religion rejects any notion of an incarnation or manifestation of Rog (the Supreme Deity in Serer religion). Rog is everywhere and nowhere and has no descendants or ancestors. The Serer people who adhere to Serer religion do not make direct sacrifices to Rog, and is considered blasphemous to speak of a Rog incarnate.[10] However, the reincarnation ("ciiɗ" in Serer language)[11] of the ancient Serer saints and ancestral spirits, known as Pangool, is a well held principle in Serer religion. These Pangool (singular : Fangool) act as intermediaries between the living world and the Devine. When the Serers speak of incarnation, it is these Pangool they refer to, who are themselves holy by virtue of their intercession with the Devine[12][13][10]
References[link]
- ^ Like in Chili con carne (literally "Chili with meat") - carne originates from Latin, meaning flesh or meat.
- ^ Smith, Peter (2000). "God". A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. p. 116. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
- ^ `Abdu'l-Bahá (1981) [1904-06]. Some Answered Questions. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. pp. 202–203. ISBN 0-87743-190-6. http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/SAQ/saq-53.html.iso8859-1#gr5.
- ^ a b c Cole, Juan (1982). "The Concept of Manifestation in the Bahá'í Writings". Bahá'í Studies monograph 9: 1–38. http://bahai-library.com/cole_concept_manifestation.
- ^ Hatcher, W.S.; & Martin, J.D. (1998). The Bahá'í Faith: The Emerging Global Religion. San Francisco: Harper & Row. p. 118. ISBN 0-87743-264-3.
- ^ "Incarnation." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 17 Nov. 2010 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/284611/Incarnation>.
- ^ Qur'an, (112:1-4).
- ^ L. Jacobs 1973 A Jewish Theology p. 24. N.Y.: Berman House
- ^ Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 2, pp. 510-511.
- ^ a b (French) Thiaw, Issa Laye, "La religiosité des Seereer, avant et pendant leur islamisation", in Éthiopiques, no. 54, volume 7, 2e semestre 1991
- ^ Faye, Louis Diène, "Mort et Naissance Le Monde Sereer", Les Nouvelles Edition Africaines (1983), pp 9-10, ISBN 2-7236-0868-9
- ^ Gravrand, Henry, "La civilisation sereer, Cosaan : les origines", vol.1, Nouvelles Editions africaines (1983), p 33, ISBN 2-7236-0877-8
- ^ Faye, Louise Diène, "Mort et Naissance le monde Sereer", Les Nouvelles Editions Africaines, 1983. pp 17-25. ISBN 2-7236-0868-9
External links[link]
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
For a general view of Inca civilization, people and culture, see Inca civilization.
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| Inca Empire Tawantinsuyu (Quechua) |
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Banner of the Tawantinsuyu |
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| Capital | Cusco (1438–1533) |
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| Language(s) | Quechua (official), Aymara, Puquina, Jaqi family, Muchik and scores of smaller languages. | |||
| Religion | Inca religion | |||
| Government | Monarchy | |||
| Sapa Inca | ||||
| - 1438–1471 | Pachacuti | |||
| - 1471–1493 | Túpac Inca Yupanqui | |||
| - 1493–1525 | Huayna Capac | |||
| - 1525–1532 | Huáscar | |||
| - 1532–1533 | Atahualpa | |||
| Historical era | Pre-Columbian | |||
| - Pachacuti created the Tawantinsuyu | 1438 | |||
| - Civil war between Huáscar and Atahualpa | 1529–1532 | |||
| - Spanish conquest led by Francisco Pizarro | 1533 | |||
| - End of the last Inca resistance | 1572 | |||
| Area | ||||
| - 1438[1] | 800,000 km2 (308,882 sq mi) | |||
| - 1527 | 2,000,000 km2 (772,204 sq mi) | |||
| Population | ||||
| - 1438[1] est. | 12,000,000 | |||
| Density | 15 /km2 (38.8 /sq mi) | |||
| - 1527 est. | 20,000,000 | |||
| Density | 10 /km2 (25.9 /sq mi) | |||
| Today part of |  Argentina Bolivia Chile Colombia Ecuador Peru |
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| Inca Empire |
|---|
| Inca society |
| Education · Religion · Mythology |
| Architecture · Road system · Army |
| Agriculture · Andean cuisine |
| Inca history |
| Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire |
The Inca Empire, or Inka Empire[2] (Quechua: Tawantinsuyu), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America.[3] The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cusco in modern-day Peru. The Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century.
From 1438 to 1533, the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean mountain ranges, including, besides Peru, large parts of modern Ecuador, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, north and central Chile, and southern Colombia into a state comparable to the historical empires of Eurasia.
The official language of the empire was Quechua, although hundreds of local languages and dialects of Quechua were spoken. The Inca referred to their empire as Tawantinsuyu[4] which can be translated as The Four Regions or The Four United Provinces.
There were many local forms of worship, most of them concerning local sacred "Huacas", but the Inca leadership encouraged the worship of Inti—the sun god—and imposed its sovereignty above other cults such as that of Pachamama.[5] The Incas considered their King, the Sapa Inca, to be the "child of the sun."[6]
Contents |
Name[link]
The Inca referred to their empire as Tawantinsuyu, "four parts together."[7] In Quechua the term Tawantin is a group of four things (tawa "four" with the suffix -ntin which names a group). Suyu means "region" or "province". The empire was divided into four suyus, whose corners met at the capital, Cusco (Qosqo). The name Tawantinsuyu was, therefore, a descriptive term indicating a union of provinces. The Spanish transliterated the name as Tahuatinsuyo or Tahuatinsuyu which is often still used today.
The term Inka means ruler, or lord, in Quechua, and was used to refer to the ruling class or the ruling family in the empire.[8] The Spanish adopted the term (transliterated as Inca in Spanish) as an ethnic term referring to all subjects of the empire rather than simply the ruling class. As such the name Imperio inca (Inca Empire) referred to the nation that they encountered, and subsequently conquered.
History[link]
Origin[link]
Incan oral history mentions three possible places of origin of their people. Three caves near Pacariqtambo (a place 33 km (21 mi) away from Cuzco), Lake Titicaca, or a place known as Tambo.[9]
Pacariqtambo, which means "the dawn tavern" or "the place of origin", was a place of three caves. The center cave, Tambo Tocco, was named for Capac Tocco. The other caves were Maras Tocco and Sutic Tocco.[9] Four brothers and four sisters stepped out of the middle cave. They were: Ayar Manco, Ayar Cachi, Ayar Auca, Ayar Uchu, and Mama Ocllo, Mama Raua, Mama Huaca, Mama Cora. Out of the side caves came the people who were to be the ancestors of all the clans of the Inca people.
Ayar Manco carried a staff made of the finest gold. Where this staff landed, the people would all live there. They travelled for a very, very long time. On the way, Ayar Cachi went too far boasting about his great strength and power, and his siblings tricked him into returning to the cave to get a sacred llama. When he went into the cave, they trapped him inside.
Ayar Uchu decided to stay somewhere on the top to look over the Incan people. The minute he proclaimed that, he turned to stone. They built a shrine around the stone and it became a sacred object. Ayar Auca also grew tired of all these and decide to travel alone. Only Ayar Manco and his four sisters remained.
Finally, they reached Cuzco. The staff sank into the ground. Before they reached here, Mama Ocllo had already bore Ayar Manco a child, Sinchi Roca. The people who were already living in the valley fought hard to keep their land, but Mama Huaca was a good fighter. When the enemy attacked, she threw her bolas—several stones tied together that spun through the air when thrown—at a soldier, or gualla, and killed him instantly. Mama Huaca ripped out his lungs and squeezed them until they exploded. The other people were so scared, they ran away.
After that, Ayar Manco became known as Manco Cápac, the founder of the Inca. It is said that he and his sisters built the first Inca homes in the valley with their own hands. When the time came, Manco Cápac turned to stone like his brothers before him. His son, Sinchi Roca, became the second emperor of the Inca.[10]
Kingdom of Cuzco[link]
Main article: Kingdom of Cuzco
"We can assure your majesty that it is so beautiful and has such fine buildings that it would even be remarkable in Spain."
The Inca people were a pastoral tribe in the Cuzco area around the 12th century. Under the leadership of Manco Cápac, they formed the small city-state Kingdom of Cuzco (Quechua Qusqu'Qosqo). In 1438, they began a far-reaching expansion under the command of Sapa Inca (paramount leader) Pachacuti-Cusi Yupanqui, whose name literally meant "earth-shaker". The name of Pachacuti was given to him after conquering over the Tribe of Chancas (modern Apurímac). During his reign, he and his son Tupac Yupanqui brought much of the Andes mountains (roughly modern Peru and Ecuador) under Inca control.[11]
Reorganization and formation[link]
Pachacuti reorganized the kingdom of Cusco into the Tahuantinsuyu, which consisted of a central government with the Inca at its head and four provincial governments with strong leaders: Chinchasuyu (NW), Antisuyu (NE), Kuntisuyu (SW), and Qullasuyu (SE).[12] Pachacuti is also thought to have built Machu Picchu, either as a family home or as a summer retreat, although there is speculation that Machu Picchu was constructed as an agricultural station.[13]
Pachacuti sent spies to regions he wanted in his empire; they brought reports on the political organization, military might and wealth. He would then send messages to the leaders of these lands extolling the benefits of joining his empire, offering them presents of luxury goods such as high quality textiles, and promising that they would be materially richer as subject rulers of the Inca.
Most accepted the rule of the Inca as a fait accompli and acquiesced peacefully. The ruler's children would then be brought to Cusco to be taught about Inca administration systems, then return to rule their native lands. This allowed the Inca to indoctrinate the former ruler's children into the Inca nobility, and, with luck, marry their daughters into families at various corners of the empire.
Expansion and consolidation[link]
It was traditional for the Inca's son to lead the army; Pachacuti's son Túpac Inca Yupanqui began conquests to the north in 1463, and continued them as Inca after Pachucuti's death in 1471. His most important conquest was the Kingdom of Chimor, the Inca's only serious rival for the coast of Peru. Túpac Inca's empire stretched north into modern day Ecuador and Colombia.
Túpac Inca's son Huayna Cápac added a small portion of land to the north in modern day Ecuador and in parts of Peru. At its height, the Inca Empire included Peru and Bolivia, most of what is now Ecuador, a large portion of what is today Chile north of the Maule River in central Chile. The advance south halted after the Battle of the Maule where they met determined resistance by the Mapuche tribes. The empire also extended into corners of Argentina and Colombia. However, most of the southern portion of the Inca empire, the portion denominated as Qullasuyu, was located in the Altiplano.
The Inca Empire was a patchwork of languages, cultures and peoples. The components of the empire were not all uniformly loyal, nor were the local cultures all fully integrated. The Inca empire as a whole had an economy based on exchange and taxation of luxury goods and labour. The following quote reflects a method of taxation:
- "For as is well known to all, not a single village of the highlands or the plains failed to pay the tribute levied on it by those who were in charge of these matters. There were even provinces where, when the natives alleged that they were unable to pay their tribute, the Inca ordered that each inhabitant should be obliged to turn in every four months a large quill full of live lice, which was the Inca's way of teaching and accustoming them to pay tribute".[14]
Inca civil war and Spanish conquest[link]
Main articles: Inca war of succession and Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire
Spanish conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro and his brothers explored south from what is today Panama, reaching Inca territory by 1526.[15] It was clear that they had reached a wealthy land with prospects of great treasure, and after one more expedition in 1529, Pizarro traveled to Spain and received royal approval to conquer the region and be its viceroy. This approval was received as detailed in the following quote: "In July 1529 the queen of Spain signed a charter allowing Pizarro to conquer the Incas. Pizarro was named governor and captain of all conquests in Peru, or New Castile, as the Spanish now called the land."[16]
When they returned to Peru in 1532, a war of the two brothers between Huayna Capac's sons Huáscar and Atahualpa and unrest among newly conquered territories—and perhaps more importantly, smallpox, which had spread from Central America—had considerably weakened the empire. Pizarro did not have a formidable force; with just 168 men, 1 cannon and 27 horses, he often needed to talk his way out of potential confrontations that could have easily wiped out his party.
The Spanish horsemen, fully armored, had great technological superiority over the Inca forces. The traditional mode of battle in the Andes was a kind of siege warfare where large numbers of usually reluctant draftees were sent to overwhelm opponents. The Spaniards had developed one of the finest military machines in the premodern world, tactics learned in their centuries' long fight against Moorish kingdoms in Iberia. Along with this tactical and material superiority, the Spaniards also had acquired tens of thousands of native allies who sought to end the Inca control of their territories.
Their first engagement was the Battle of Puná, near present-day Guayaquil, Ecuador, on the Pacific Coast; Pizarro then founded the city of Piura in July 1532. Hernando de Soto was sent inland to explore the interior and returned with an invitation to meet the Inca, Atahualpa, who had defeated his brother in the civil war and was resting at Cajamarca with his army of 80,000 troops.
Pizarro and some of his men, most notably a friar named Vincente de Valverde, met with the Inca, who had brought only a small retinue. Through an interpreter Friar Vincente read the "Requerimiento" that demanded that he and his empire accept the yoke of King Charles I of Spain and convert to Christianity. Because of the language barrier and perhaps poor interpretation, Atahualpa became somewhat puzzled by the friar's description of Christian faith and was said to have not fully understood the envoy's intentions. After Atahualpa attempted further enquiry into the doctrines of the Christian faith under which Pizarro's envoy served, the Spanish became frustrated and impatient, attacking the Inca's retinue and capturing Atahualpa as hostage.
Atahualpa offered the Spaniards enough gold to fill the room he was imprisoned in, and twice that amount of silver. The Inca fulfilled this ransom, but Pizarro deceived them, refusing to release the Inca afterwards. During Atahualpa's imprisonment Huáscar was assassinated elsewhere. The Spaniards maintained that this was at Atahualpa's orders; this was used as one of the charges against Atahualpa when the Spaniards finally decided to put him to death, in August 1533.[17]
Last Incas[link]
The Spanish installed Atahualpa's brother Manco Inca Yupanqui in power; for some time Manco cooperated with the Spanish, while the Spanish fought to put down resistance in the north. Meanwhile an associate of Pizarro's, Diego de Almagro, attempted to claim Cusco for himself. Manco tried to use this intra-Spanish feud to his advantage, recapturing Cusco in 1536, but the Spanish retook the city afterwards. Manco Inca then retreated to the mountains of Vilcabamba, Peru, where he and his successors ruled for another 36 years, sometimes raiding the Spanish or inciting revolts against them. In 1572 the last Inca stronghold was conquered, and the last ruler, Túpac Amaru, Manco's son, was captured and executed.[18] This ended resistance to the Spanish conquest under the political authority of the Inca state.
After the fall of the Inca Empire many aspects of Inca culture were systematically destroyed, including their sophisticated farming system, known as the vertical archipelago model of agriculture.[19] Spanish colonial officials used the Inca mita corvée labor system for colonial aims, sometimes brutally. One member of each family was forced to work in the gold and silver mines, the foremost of which was the titanic silver mine at Potosí. When a family member died, which would usually happen within a year or two, the family would be required to send a replacement.[citation needed]
The effects of smallpox on the Inca empire were even more devastating. Beginning in Colombia, smallpox spread rapidly before the Spanish invaders first arrived in the empire. The spread was probably aided by the efficient Inca road system. Within a few years smallpox claimed between 60% and 94% of the Inca population,[citation needed] with other waves of European disease weakening them further. Smallpox was only the first epidemic.[20] Typhus (probably) in 1546, influenza and smallpox together in 1558, smallpox again in 1589, diphtheria in 1614, measles in 1618 – all ravaged the remains of Inca culture.
Society[link]
Main articles: Inca society and Inca education
Population[link]
There is some debate about the number of people inhabiting Tawantinsuyu at its peak, with estimates ranging from as few as 4 million people, to more than 37 million. The reason for these various estimates is that in spite of the fact that the Inca kept excellent census records using their quipu, knowledge of how to read them has been lost, and almost all of them had been destroyed by the Spaniards in the course of their conquest.[21]
Language[link]
Main article: Quechua languages
Since the Inca Empire lacked a written language, the empire's main form of communication and recording came from quipus, ceramics and spoken Quechua, the language the Incas imposed upon the peoples within the empire. The plethora of civilizations in the Andean region provided for a general disunity that the Incas needed to subdue in order to maintain control of the empire. While Quechua had been spoken in the Andean region, like central Peru, for several years prior to the expansion of the Inca civilization, the type of Quechua the Incas imposed was an adaptation from the Kingdom of Cusco (an early form of "Southern Quechua" originally named Qhapaq Runasimi = The great language of the people) of what some historians define as "Proto-Quechua" or Cusco dialect (the original Quechua dialect).[22][23]
The language imposed by the Incas further diverted from its original phonetic tone as some societies formed their own regional varieties, or slang. The diversity of Quechua at that point and even today does not come as a direct result from the Incas, who are just a part of the reason for Quechua's diversity. The civilizations within the empire that had previously spoken Quechua kept their own variety distinct to the Quechua the Incas spread. Although these dialects of Quechua have a similar linguistic structure, they differ according to the region in which they are spoken.[23]
Although most of the societies within the empire implemented Quechua into their lives, the Incas allowed several societies to keep their old languages such as Aymara, which still remains a spoken language in contemporary Bolivia where it is the primary indigenous language and various regions of South America surrounding Bolivia. The linguistic body of the Inca Empire was thus largely varied, but it still remains quite an achievement for the Incas that went beyond their time as the Spanish continued the use of Quechua.[23]
Religion[link]
See also: Religion in the Inca Empire and Inca mythology
Incan myths were an oral tradition until early Spanish colonists recorded them; however, some scholars believe that they may have been recorded on quipus, Andean knotted string records.[24]
The Inca believed in reincarnation.[25] Death was a passage to the next world that was full of difficulties. The spirit of the dead (camaquen) would need to follow a long dark road and during the trip the assistance of black dog that was able to see in the dark was required. Most Incas imagined the after world to be very similar to ours with flower covered fields and snow capped mountains. It was important for the Inca to ensure they did not die as a result of burning or that the body of the deceased did not become incinerated. This is because of the underlying belief that a vital force would disappear and threaten their passage to the after world. Those who obeyed the Incan moral code—ama suwa, ama llulla, ama quella (do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy) —"went to live in the Sun's warmth while others spent their eternal days in the cold earth"[citation needed]. The Inca also practiced cranial deformation.[26] They achieved this by wrapping tight cloth straps around the heads of newborns in order to alter the shape of their soft skulls into a more conical form; this cranial deformation was made to distinguish social classes of the communities, with only the nobility having cranial deformation.
Deities[link]
- Viracocha (also Pachacamac) – Created all living things
- Apu Illapu – Rain God, prayed to when they need rain
- Ayar Cachi – Hot-tempered God, causes earthquakes
- Illapa – Goddess of lightning and thunder (also Yakumama water goddess)
- Inti – sun god and patron deity of the holy city of Cuzco (home of the sun)
- Kuychi – Rainbow God, connected with fertility
- Mama Kilya – Wife of Inti, called Moon Mother
- Mama Occlo – Wisdom to civilize the people, taught women to weave cloth, and build houses
- Manco Cápac – known for his courage and sent to earth to become first king of the Incas, taught people how to grow plants, make weapons, work together, share resources, and worship the Gods
- Pachamama – The Goddess of earth and wife of Viracocha, people give her offerings of coca leafs and beer and pray to her for major agricultural occasions
- Qochamama – Goddess of the sea
- Sachamama – Means Mother Tree, goddess in the shape of a snake with two heads
- Yakumama – Means mother Water, represented as a snake, when she came to earth she transformed into a great river (also Illapa)
Economy[link]
The economy of the Inca Empire has been characterized as involving a high degree of central planning. While evidence of trade between the Inca Empire and outside regions has been uncovered, there is no evidence that the Incas had an internal market economy or currency. Individuals were required to pay taxes to the state in the form of a certain amount of labor. In return, the state provided basic necessities.[27]
Social structure[link]
The social structure of the Inca Empire varied from area to area, but still had the same basic structure, On top was the Sapa Inca, or the emperor. Then came the nobles, these were often the priests and relatives of past emperors or the current ones. After, there were craftsmen and architects, they were very high on the social ladder because of the skill that they had was required by the Empire for such buildings. then came the working class, often just farmers that were kept in their social groupings. After this, were the slaves and peasants of the society.[citation needed]
The Inca State[link]
Main article: Inca Government
Philosophy and Ideology[link]
The Sapa Inca was conceptualized as divine and was effectively head of the state religion. Only the Willaq-Umu (or Chief Priest) was second the emperor. Local religious traditions were allowed to continue, and in some cases such as the Oracle at Pachacamac on the Peruvian coast, were officially venerated. Following Pachacuti, the Sapa Inca claimed decent from Inti, which placed a high value on imperial blood; by the end of the empire, it was common to wed brother and sister. He was “son of the sun,” and his people the intip churin, or “children of the sun,” and both his right to rule and mission to conquer derived from his holy ancestor. The Sapa Inca also presided over ideologically-important festivals, notably during the Inti Raymi, or “warriors’ cultivation,” attended by soldiers, mummified rulers, nobles, clerics, and the general population of Cuzco beginning on the auspicious June solstice and culminating nine days later with the ritual breaking of the earth using a foot plow by the Inca himself. Moreover, Cuzco itself was considered cosmologically central, loaded as it was with huacas and radiating ceque lines, and geographic center of the Four Quarters; Inca Garcilaso de la Vega himself called it “the navel of the universe.”[28][29][30][31]
Organization of the empire[link]
The Inca Empire was a federalist system which consisted of a central government with the Inca at its head and four quarters, or suyu: Chinchay Suyu (NW), Anti Suyu (NE), Kunti Suyu (SW), and Qulla Suyu (SE). The four corners of these quarters met at the center, Cusco. These suyu were likely created around 1460 during the reign of Pachacuti before the empire assumed it largest territorial extent. It is probably the case that at the time the suyu were established they were roughly of equal size and only later changing their proportions as the empire expanded north and south along the Andes. [32]
The capital area, Cusco, was likely not organized as a wamani, or province. Rather, it was probably somewhat akin a modern federal district, like Washington, D.C. or Mexico City. The city sat at the center of the four suyu and served as the preeminent center of politics and religion. While Cuzco was essentially governed by the Sapa Inca, his relatives, and the royal panaqa lineages, each suyu was governed by an Apu, a term of great esteem used for men of very high status and for venerated mountains. Just as with so much of Andean society and Inca administration, both Cuzco as a district and the four suyu as administrative regions were grouped into upper hanan and lower hurin divisions. As the Inca did not have written records, it is impossible to exhaustively list the constituent wamani. However, records created during the Spanish colonial period allow us to reconstruct a partial list. There were likely more than 86 wamani, with more than 48 in the highlands and more than 38 on the coast.[33]
The most populous suyu, Chinchaysuyu encompassed the former lands of the Chimu empire and much of the northern Andes. At its largest extent, the suyu extended through much of modern Ecuador and just into modern Colombia. The second smallest of the suyu, Antisuyu was located northwest of Cuzco in high Andes. Indeed, it is the root of the word “Andes.”[34] Collasuyu or Qollasuyu was named after the Aymara-speaking Qolla people and was the largest of the quarters in terms of area. This suyu encompassed the Bolivian Altiplano and much of the southern Andes, running down into Argentina and as far south as the Maule river near modern Santiago, Chile. Cuntisuyu or Kuntisuyu was the smallest suyu of all was located along the southern coast of modern Peru, extending into the highlands towards Cuzco.[35]
Laws[link]
The Inca state had no separate judiciary or codified set of laws. While customs, expectations, and traditional local power holders did much in the way of governing behavior, the state, too, had legal force, such as through tokoyrikoq (lit. "he who sees all"), or inspectors. The highest such inspector, typically a blood relation to the Sapa Inca, acted independently of the conventional hierarchy, providing a point of view for the Sapa Inca free of bureaucratic influence.[36]
Administration[link]
The colonial-era sources are not entirely clear or in agreement about the nature of the structure of the Inca government. However, there are basic structure can be spoken of broadly, even if the exactly duties and functions of government positions cannot be told. At the top of the chain of administration sat the Sapa Inca. Next to the Sapa Inca in terms of power may have been the Willaq Umu, literally the "priest who recounts", who was the High Priest of the Sun.[37] However, it has been noted that beneath the Sapa Inca also sat the Inkap rantin, who was at the very least a confidant and assistant to the Sapa Inca, perhaps along the lines of a Prime Minister.[38] From the time of Topa Inca Yupanqui on, there existed a "Council of the Realm" composed of sixteen nobles: two from hanan Cuzco; two from hurin Cuzco; four from Chinchaysuyu; two from Cuntisuyu; four from Collasuyu; and two from Antisuyu. This weighting of representation balanced the hanan and hurin divisions of the empire, both within Cuzco and within the Quarters (hanan suyukuna and hurin suyukuna).[39]
While there was a great deal of variation in the form that Inca bureaucracy and government took at the provincial level, the basic (perhaps, ideal) form of organization was decimal. In this system of organization, taxpayers-- male heads of household of a certain age range-- were organized into corvée labor units (which often doubled as military units) that formed the muscle of the state as part of mit'a service. Each level of jurisdiction above one hundred tax-payers was headed by a kuraka, while those heading smaller units were kamayuq, a lower, non-hereditary status. However, while kuraka status was hereditary, one's actual position within the hierarchy (which was typically served for life) was subject to change based upon the privileges of those above them in the hierarchy; a pachaka kuraka (see below) could be appointed to their position by a waranqa kuraka. Furthermore, it has been suggested that one kuraka in each decimal level also served as the head of one of the nine groups at a lower level, so that one pachaka kuraka might also be a waranqa kuraka, in effect directly responsible for one unit of 100 tax-payers and less directly responsible for nine other such units.[40]
| Kuraka in Charge | Number of Tax-Payers |
|---|---|
| Hunu kuraka | 10,000 |
| Pichkawaranqa kuraka | 5,000 |
| Waranqa kuraka | 1,000 |
| Pichkapachaka kuraka | 500 |
| Pachaka kuraka | 100 |
| Pichkachunka kamayuq | 50 |
| Chunka kamayuq | 10 |
Arts and technology[link]
Monumental architecture[link]
Architecture was by far the most important of the Inca arts, with textiles reflecting motifs that were at their height in architecture. The main example is the capital city of Cusco. The site of Machu Picchu was constructed by Inca engineers. The stone temples constructed by the Inca used a mortarless construction that fit together so well that a knife could not be fitted through the stonework.
This was a process first used on a large scale by the Pucara (ca. 300 BC–AD 300) peoples to the south in Lake Titicaca, and later in the great city of Tiwanaku (ca. AD 400–1100) in present day Bolivia. The rocks used in construction were sculpted to fit together exactly by repeatedly lowering a rock onto another and carving away any sections on the lower rock where the dust was compressed. The tight fit and the concavity on the lower rocks made them extraordinarily stable.
Measures, Calendrics, and Mathematics[link]
Main article: Inca measures
Main article: Inca calendar
Main article: Inca mathematics
Physical measures employed by the Inca were based upon human body parts. Fingers, the distance between thumb to forginger, palms, cubits, and wingspans were among those units used. The most basic unit of distance was thatkiy or thatki, or one pace. The next largest unit was reported by Cobo to be the topo or tupu, measuring 6,000 thatkiys, or about 4.8 miles (7.7 km); careful study has shown that a range of 2.5–3.9 miles (4.0–6.3 km) is likely. Next was the wamani, composed of 30 topos (roughly 144 miles (232 km)). To measure area, 25 by 50 wingspans were used, reckoned in topos (roughly 1,266 square miles (3,280 km2)). It seems likely as well that distance was often conceptualized as being one day's walk; the distance between tambo way-stations varies widely in terms of distance, but in far less so in terms of time to walk that distance.[42][43]
Inca calendrics were strongly tied to astronomy. Inca astronomers understood equinoxes, solstices, and likely zenith passages, not to mention the Venus cycle. They could not, however, predict eclipses. The Inca calendar was essentially lunisolar, as two calendars were maintained in parallel, one solar and one lunar. As twelve lunar months fall 11-days short of a full 365-day solar year, those in charge of the calendar had to adjust every winter solstice. The twelve lunar months were each marked with specific festivals and rituals.[44] There apparently were no names for days of the week, and it may be the case that there were no subdivisions of time into weeks at all. Similarly, months were not grouped into seasons. Time during a given day was not reckoned in hours or minutes, but rather in terms of how far the sun had traveled or in how long it takes to perform a task.[45]
The sophistication of Inca administration, calendrics, and engineering necessitated a certain facility with numbers. Numerical information itself was stored in the knots of quipu strings, allowing for large numbers to be stored in a small amount of space.[46] These numbers were stored in base-10 digits, the same base as used by the Quechua language[47] and used in administrative and military units.[48] These numbers, stored in quipu, could be calculated on yupanas, grids with squares of positionally varying mathematical values perhaps functioning along the lines of an abacus.[49] Moving piles of tokens, seeds, or pebbles between the different compartments of the yupana allowed for calculations to take place. It is likely that, "at minimum", Inca mathematics were capable of division of integers into integers or fractions and multiplication of integers and fractions.[50]
Ceramics, precious metal work, and textiles[link]
Almost all of the gold and silver work of the empire was melted down by the conquistadors.
Ceramics were painted using the polychrome technique portraying numerous motifs including animals, birds, waves, felines (which were popular in the Chavin culture) and geometric patterns found in the Nazca style of ceramics. In place of a written language Ceramics portrayed the very basic scenes of everyday life, including the smelting of metals, relationships and scenes of tribal warfare, it is through these preserved Ceramics that we know what life was like for the ancient South Americans. The most distinctive Inca ceramic objects are the Cusco bottles or ¨aryballos¨.[51] Many of these pieces are on display in Lima in the Larco Archaeological Museum and the National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology and History.
Communication and medicine[link]
The Inca used assemblages of knotted strings, known as Quipu to record information, the exact nature of which is no longer known. Originally it was thought that Quipu were used only as mnemonic devices or to record numerical data. Quipus are also believed to record history and literature.[52]
The Inca made many discoveries in medicine. They performed successful skull surgery, which involved cutting holes in the skull in order to alleviate fluid buildup and inflammation caused by head wounds. Anthropologists have discovered evidence which suggests that most skull surgeries performed by Inca surgeons were successful. In pre-Inca times, only one-third of skull surgery patients survived the procedure. However, survival rates rose to 80–90% during the Inca era.[53]
Coca[link]
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This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability. |
The Incas revered the coca plant as being sacred or magical. Its leaves were used in moderate amounts to lessen hunger and pain during work, but were mostly used for religious and health purposes. When the Spaniards realized the effects of chewing the coca leaves, they took advantage of it. They forced the people of the Tawantinsuyo (Peru) to become addicted to it to avoid having to provide the usual amounts of food and rest while they were engaged in slave labour[citation needed]. The Chasqui (messengers) chewed coca leaves for extra energy to carry on their tasks as runners delivering messages throughout the empire. The coca leaf was also used during surgeries as an anaesthetic.
Weapons, armor, and warfare[link]
The Inca army was the most powerful in the area at that time, because they could turn an ordinary villager or farmer into a soldier, ready for battle. This is because every male Inca had to take part in war at least once so as to be prepared for warfare again when needed. By the time the empire had reached its large size, every section of the empire contributed in setting up an army for war.
The Incas had no iron or steel, and their weapons were not much better than those of their enemies. They went into battle with the beating of drums and the blowing of trumpets. The armor used by the Incas included:
- Helmets made of wood, copper, bronze, cane, or animal skin; some were adorned with feathers
- Round or square shields made from wood or hide
- Cloth tunics padded with cotton and small wooden planks to protect the spine.
The Inca weaponry included:
- Bronze or bone-tipped spears
- Two-handed wooden swords with serrated edges
- Clubs with stone and spiked metal heads
- Woolen slings and stones
- Stone or copper headed battle-axes
- Bolas (stones fastened to lengths of cord)
Roads allowed very quick movement for the Inca army, and shelters called tambo were built one day's distance in travelling from each other, so that an army on campaign could always be fed and rested. This can be seen in names of ruins such as Ollantay Tambo, or My Lord's Storehouse. These were set up so the Inca and his entourage would always have supplies (and possibly shelter) ready as he traveled.
Inca flag[link]
Banner of the Incas.
There are 16th and 17th century chronicles and references that support the idea of a banner, or flag, attributable to the Inca. Francisco López de Jerez[54] wrote in 1534:
...todos venían repartidos en sus escuadras con sus banderas y capitanes que los mandan, con tanto concierto como turcos.
(...all of them came distributed into squads, with their flags and captains commanding them, as well-ordered as Turks.)
The chronicler, Bernabé Cobo, wrote:
"The royal standard or banner was a small square flag, ten or twelve spans around, made of cotton or wool cloth, placed on the end of a long staff, stretched and stiff such that it did not wave in the air, and on it each king painted his arms and emblems, for each one chose different ones, though the sign of the Incas was the rainbow and two parallel snakes along the width with the tassel as a crown, which each king used to add for a badge or blazon those preferred, like a lion, an eagle and other figures."
(...el guión o estandarte real era una banderilla cuadrada y pequeña, de diez o doce palmos de ruedo, hecha de lienzo de algodón o de lana, iba puesta en el remate de una asta larga, tendida y tiesa, sin que ondease al aire, y en ella pintaba cada rey sus armas y divisas, porque cada uno las escogía diferentes, aunque las generales de los Incas eran el arco celeste y dos culebras tendidas a lo largo paralelas con la borda que le servía de corona, a las cuales solía añadir por divisa y blasón cada rey las que le parecía, como un león, un águila y otras figuras.)
-Bernabé Cobo, Historia del Nuevo Mundo (1653)
Guaman Poma's 1615 book, El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno, shows numerous line drawings of Inca flags.[55]
In modern times the rainbow flag has been associated with the Tawantinsuyu and is displayed as a symbol of Inca heritage in Peru and Bolivia. The city of Cusco flies the Rainbow Flag. Even the Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo (2001–2006) flew the Rainbow Flag in Lima's presidential palace.
According to the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio, the flag only dates to the first decades of the 20th century.[56] But in his 1847 book A History of the Conquest of Peru, "William H. Prescott ... says that in the Inca army each company had its particular banner, and that the imperial standard, high above all, displayed the glittering device of the rainbow, the armorial ensign of the Incas."[57] A 1917 world flags book says the Incan "heir-apparent ... was entitled to display the royal standard of the rainbow in his military campaigns."[58]
See also: Wiphala and Rainbow flag#Andean peoples and social movements
Archaeology[link]
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This section may stray from the topic of the article. Please help improve this section or discuss this issue on the talk page. (May 2010) |
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Andean civilization probably began c. 9500 BP. Based in the highlands of Peru, an area now referred to as the punas, the ancestors of the Incas probably began as a nomadic herding people. Geographical conditions resulted in a distinctive physical development characterized by a small stature and stocky build. Men averaged 1.57 m (5'2") and women averaged 1.45 m (4'9"). Because of the high altitudes, they had unique lung developments with almost one third greater capacity than other humans. The Incas had slower heart rates, blood volume of about 2 l (four pints) more than other humans, and double the amount of hemoglobin which transfers oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.
Archaeologists have found traces of permanent habitation as high as 5,300 m (17,400 ft) above sea level in the temperate zone of the high altiplanos. While the Conquistadors may have been a little taller, the Inca surely had the advantage of coping with the extraordinary altitude. It seems that civilizations in this area before the Inca have left no written record, and therefore the Inca seem to appear from nowhere, but the Inca were a product of the past. They borrowed architecture, ceramics, and their empire-state government from previous cultures.
In the Lake Titikaka region, Tiwanaku is recognized by Andean scholars as one of the most important precursors to the Inca Empire, flourishing as the ritual and administrative capital of a major state power for approximately 500 years.
Important Incan sites[link]
See also[link]
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- War of the two brothers
- Inca Garcilaso de la Vega
- Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala
- Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire
- Inca cuisine
- Tumi
- Tambo (Incan structure)
- Amazonas before the Inca Empire
- Pambokancha, Inca religious site
- Incan aqueducts
General:
- Peruvian Ancient Cultures
- Cultural periods of Peru
- History of Peru
- Smallpox Epidemics in the New World
- Population history of Amerindians
Notes[link]
- ^ Namnama, Katrina; DeGuzman, Kathleen, "The Inca Empire", K12, USA, http://www.k12.hi.us/~jowalton/inca.ppt .
- ^ See Quechuan and Aymaran spelling shift for more information regarding this spelling difference
- ^ Terence D'Altroy, The Incas, pp. 2–3.
- ^ Tawantin suyu derives from the Quechua "tawa" (four), to which the suffix "-ntin" (together or united) is added, followed by "suyu" (region or province), which roughly renders as "The four lands together". The four suyos were: Chinchay Suyo (North), Anti Suyo (East. The Amazon jungle), Colla Suyo (South) and Conti Suyo (West).
- ^ The Inca – All Empires
- ^ http://www.nflc.org/reach/7ca/enCAInca.htm
- ^ McEwan 221
- ^ "Inca". American Heritage Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Company. 2009. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/inca.
- ^ a b McEwan 57
- ^ McEwan 69
- ^ Demarest, Arthur Andrew; Conrad, Geoffrey W. (1984). Religion and Empire: The Dynamics of Aztec and Inca Expansionism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 57–59. ISBN 0-521-31896-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=IqecX148zLsC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- ^ The three laws of Tawantinsuyu are still referred to in Bolivia these days as the three laws of the Qullasuyu.
- ^ Weatherford, J. McIver (1988). Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World. New York: Fawcett Columbine. pp. 60–62. ISBN 0-449-90496-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=xrjz_PgrAdsC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- ^ Starn, Degregori, Kirk (1995) The Peru Reader: History, Culture, Politics; Quote by Pedro de Cieza de Leon; Published by Duke University Press
- ^ *Juan de Samano (9 October 2009). "Relacion de los primeros descubrimientos de Francisco Pizarro y Diego de Almagro, 1526". bloknot.info (A.Skromnitsky). http://bloknot.info/juan-de-samanos-relacion-de-los-primeros-descubrimientos-peru-francisco-pizarro-y-diego-de-almagro-1526/. Retrieved 10 October 2009.
- ^ Somervill, Barbara (2005). Francisco Pizarro: Conqueror of the Incas. Compass Point Books. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-7565-1061-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=j-FusDo4ssoC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- ^ McEwan 79
- ^ McEwan 31
- ^ Sanderson 76
- ^ Millersville University Silent Killers of the New World
- ^ McEwan 93–96. There is some debate about the size of the population.
- ^ Quechua
- ^ a b c Origins and diversity of Quechua
- ^ Gary, Urton (2003). Signs of the Inka Khipu: Binary Coding in the Andean Knotted-String Records. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-78540-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=koUyPlsu_VIC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- ^ http://www.netside.net/~manomed/inca.htm
- ^ Burger, R.L. and L.C. Salazar. 2004. Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas. Yale University Press, p. 45. ISBN 0-300-09763-8.
- ^ Newitz, Annalee (3 January 2012), The greatest mystery of the Inca Empire was its strange economy, io9, http://io9.com/5872764/the-greatest-mystery-of-the-inca-empire-was-its-strange-economy, retrieved 4 January 2012
- ^ Willey, Gordon R. (1971). An Introduction to American Archaeology, Volume Two: South America. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., pp. 173-175
- ^ D’Altroy, Terence N. (2005). The Incas. Blackwell Publishing: Malden, pp. 86-89; 111; 154-155
- ^ Moseley, Michael E. (2004). The Incas and their Ancestors (revised ed.) Thames & Hudson: London, pp. 81-85
- ^ McEwan, Gordon F. (2006). Incas: New Perspective. W.W. Norton & Company: New York, pp. 138-139
- ^ Rowe in Steward, Ed., p. 262
- ^ Rowe in Steward, ed., p. 185-192; D’Altroy, p. 42-43, 86-89; McEwan, p.113-114
- ^ D’Altroy, p. 87
- ^ D’Altroy, 87-88
- ^ D'Altroy, 235-236
- ^ D'Altroy, p. 99
- ^ R. T. Zuidema, Hierarchy and Space in Incaic Social Organization. Ethnohistory, Vol. 30, No. 2. (Spring, 1983), pp. 97
- ^ Zuidema, pp. 48
- ^ Julien, Catherine J. (1982). Inca Decimal Administration in the Lake Titicaca Region in The Inca and Aztec States: 1400-1800. Academic Press: New York, p. 121-127; McEwan, p. 114-115; D'Altroy, p. 233-234
- ^ Julien, Catherine J. (1982). Inca Decimal Administration in the Lake Titicaca Region in The Inca and Aztec States: 1400-1800. Academic Press: New York, p. 123; D'Altroy, p. 233
- ^ D'Altroy, pp. 246-247>
- ^ McEwan, pp. 179-180
- ^ D'Altroy, 150-154
- ^ McEwan, 185-187
- ^ McEwan, 183-185
- ^ http://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/~pah1003/loe/Eng/SupplInfo/2008Heggarty.htm
- ^ D'Altroy, 233-234
- ^ http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/HistTopics/Inca_mathematics.html
- ^ McEwan, 185
- ^ Berrin, Katherine & Larco Museum. The Spirit of Ancient Peru:Treasures from the Museo Arqueológico Rafael Larco Herrera. New York: Thames and Hudson.
- ^ McEwan 183
- ^ Science News / Incan Skull Surgery
- ^ Francisco López de Jerez,Verdadera relacion de la conquista del Peru y provincia de Cuzco, llamada la Nueva Castilla, 1534.
- ^ Guaman Poma, El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno, (1615/1616), pp. 256, 286, 344, 346, 400, 434, 1077, this pagination corresponds to the Det Kongelige Bibliotek search engine pagination of the book. Additionally Poma shows both well drafted European flags and coats of arms on pp. 373, 515, 558, 1077, 0. On pages 83, 167–171 Poma uses a European heraldic graphic convention, a shield, to place certain totems related to Inca leaders.
- ^ "La Bandera del Tahuantisuyo". http://www.congreso.gob.pe/participa/documentos/boletin23062004.pdf. Retrieved 12 June 2009. (Spanish)
- ^ Preble, George Henry; Charles Edward Asnis (1917). Origin and History of the American Flag and of the Naval and Yacht-Club Signals.... 1. N. L. Brown. p. 85. http://books.google.com/books?id=erYTAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- ^ McCandless, Byron (1917). Flags of the world. National Geographic Society. p. 356. http://books.google.com/books?id=dbSCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA356.
References[link]
- De la Vega, Garcilaso (1961). The Incas: The Royal Commentaries of the Inca. New York: The Orion Press.
- Hemming, John (2003). The Conquest of the Incas. Harvest Press. ISBN 0-15-602826-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=I2QmzGPIf7EC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- MacQuarrie, Kim (2007). The Last Days of the Incas. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-6049-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=Emql_kU0QLIC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- Mann, Charles C. (2005). 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. Knopf. pp. 64–105. ISBN 978-0-307-27818-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=Jw2TE_UNHJYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- McEwan, Gordon Francis. The Incas: New Perspectives. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-33301-5.
- Morales, Edmundo (1995). The Guinea Pig: Healing, Food, and Ritual in the Andes. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 0-8165-1558-1.
- Popenoe, Hugh; Steven R. King, Jorge Leon, Luis Sumar Kalinowski, and Noel D. Vietmeyer (1989). Lost Crops of the Incas: Little-Known Plants of the Andes with Promise for Worldwide Cultivation. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. ISBN 0-309-04264-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=iT0rAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- Sanderson, Steven E. The politics of trade in Latin American development. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1992. ISBN 978-0-8047-2021-2.
- Steward, ed., Julian H. (1946), The Handbook of South American Indians. No. 143, Vol. 2: The Andean Civilizations. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, pp. 1935
External links[link]
- "Guaman Poma – El Primer Nueva Corónica Y Buen Gobierno" – A high-quality digital version of the Corónica, scanned from the original manuscript.
- Conquest of Peru, Prescott, 1847 Full text, free to read and search.
- Inca Land by Hiram Bingham (published 1912–1922 CE).
- Inca Artifacts, Peru, and Machu Picchu 360 degree movies of inca artifacts and Peruvian landscapes.
- Inca civilization and other ancient civilizations by Genry Joil.
- Inca stone cutting techniques: theory on how the Inca walls fit so perfectly.
- Ancient Civilizations – Inca Great research site for kids.
- "Ice Treasures of the Inca" National Geographic site.
- "The Sacred Hymns of Pachacutec" Poetry of an Inca emperor.
- Incan Ice Mummies NOVA site based on their series about the 1996 expedition that discovered Incan ice mummies.
- Incan Religion
- Engineering in the Andes Mountains MIT asst. professor gives 40 minute lecture on Incan suspension bridges.
- A Map and Timeline of events mentioned in this article
| Pre-Columbian civilizations and cultures | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Americas | Paleo-Indians · Genetic history · Archaeology of the Americas · Indigenous peoples of the Americas | |||
| North America | North American pre-Columbian cultures – Caddoan Mississippian – Chichimeca –Hopewell tradition – Coles Creek – Fremont – Marksville – Mississippian – Mogollon – Plaquemine – Plum Bayou – Poverty Point – Troyville – Weeden Island – | |||
| Mesoamerica | Mesoamerican pre-Columbian chronology – Capacha – Cholula – Coclé – Epi-Olmec – Huastec – Izapa – Mezcala – Mixtec – Olmec – Pipil – Quelepa – Shaft tomb tradition – Teuchitlan – Tarascan – Teotihuacan – Tlatilco – Tlaxcaltec – Toltec – Totonac – Veracruz – Xochipala – Zapotec | |||
| South America | South American Indigenous people – pre-Columbian chronology – Cañaris – Chachapoya – Chancay – Chavín – Chimu – El Abra – Hydraulic culture of mounds (Bolivia) – Las Vegas – Lima – La Tolita (Tumaco) – Manteño-Guancavilca – Mapuche – Moche – Mollo – Muisca (Chibchas) – Nariño – Nazca – Norte Chico – Quimbaya – San Agustin – Shuar – Sican – Taino – Tairona – Tiwanaku – Tierradentro – Valdivia – Wari | |||
| Aztec civilization | Maya civilization | Inca Empire – Inca civilization | ||
| Language | Nahuatl language | Mayan languages | Quechua | |
| Writing | Aztec writing | Mayan writing | Quipu | |
| Religion | Aztec religion | Maya religion | Inca religion | |
| Mythology | Aztec mythology | Maya mythology | Inca mythology | |
| Calendar | Aztec calendar | Maya calendar | ||
| Society | Aztec society | Maya society | Inca society | |
| Infrastructure | Chinampas | Maya architecture | Inca architecture (road system) Incan agriculture |
|
| History | Aztec history | Inca history | ||
| People | Moctezuma I Moctezuma II Cuitlahuac Cuauhtémoc |
K'inich Janaab' Pakal Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil Jasaw Chan K'awiil I |
Manco Cápac Pachacutec Atahualpa Manco Inca |
|
| Conquest | Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (Hernán Cortés) |
Spanish conquest of Yucatán (Francisco de Montejo) Spanish conquest of Guatemala (Pedro de Alvarado) |
Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire (Francisco Pizarro) |
|
| See also | ||||
| Portal:Indigenous peoples of North America – Columbian exchange – Mesoamerican writing systems – Native American cuisine – Native American pottery – Population history of American indigenous peoples – Pre-Columbian art – Painting in the Americas before Colonization | ||||
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http://wn.com/Inca_Empire
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Impero inca
http://cs.wn.com/Incká říše
http://id.wn.com/Kerajaan Inka
http://es.wn.com/Imperio incaico
http://ru.wn.com/Империя Инков
http://nl.wn.com/Inca's
http://pl.wn.com/Państwo Inków
http://fr.wn.com/Civilisation inca
http://de.wn.com/Inka
http://hi.wn.com/इन्का साम्राज्य
http://pt.wn.com/Império Inca
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca_Empire
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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (September 2010) |
| Nina Nastasia | |
|---|---|
| File:Nina Nastasia.jpg | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | United States |
| Genres | Folk |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Labels | Socialist Records Touch and Go Records Fat Cat Records |
Nina Nastasia is a New York City-based singer-songwriter born in Hollywood, California.
Contents |
Biography[link]
She began writing songs in 1993,[1] and released her first album, Dogs, in 2000. Only 1,500 copies of the album were initially pressed, with Nastasia putting together the album packaging herself in her apartment. Nastasia sold them at her shows, quickly selling all of them. By the end of the year 2000, the album was out of print. Famed DJ John Peel took notice to the album (calling it "astonishing") after having been given a copy by Steve Albini. Peel began playing songs from it constantly on his radio show on BBC Radio 1. The album, as well as Nastasia, gained a cult following.
Nastasia has released six albums, one in collaboration with Jim White. Her first album, Dogs, was initially released in 2000 on Socialist Records. Her subsequent albums, The Blackened Air (2002) and Run to Ruin (2003), were released on indie label Touch and Go Records, which also re-released Dogs in 2004. In 2006, On Leaving was released on Fat Cat Records. In 2007, an album on which she collaborated with Jim White entitled You Follow Me was released through Fat Cat. All of Nastasia's albums to date were recorded by Steve Albini, who has ardently praised her music in a number of interviews.
Nastasia recorded six sessions for late BBC disc jockey John Peel's show. The last one was recorded with the help of Tuvan throat singing group Huun-Huur-Tu. Two of Nastasia's songs were included in Peel's annual Festive Fifty: "Ugly Face" (ranked 4th in 2002) and "You, Her & Me" (ranked 13th in 2003).[2]
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A 7-inch single, titled "What She Doesn't Know" was released on February 25, 2008. The single featured the title track, along with the song "Your Red Nose". Both tracks were recorded by Steve Albini during the On Leaving sessions. Nastasia has called the single "a good complement to You Follow Me".[3] A solo American and European tour coincided with the release of the single.
The single "Cry, Cry, Baby" was released on May 10, 2010 internationally and May 18 in the US.[4] Her sixth studio album, Outlaster, followed on June 7, 2010.[5]
Discography[link]
Albums[link]
- 2000 Dogs (Socialist)
-
- 2004 re-released (Touch and Go)
- 2002 The Blackened Air (Touch and Go)
- 2003 Run to Ruin (Touch and Go)
- 2006 On Leaving (Fat Cat)
- 2007 You Follow Me (Fat Cat) - collaboration with Jim White of Dirty Three
- 2010 Outlaster (Fat Cat)
Singles[link]
- 2008 What She Doesn't Know (Fat Cat)
- 2010 Cry, Cry, Baby (Fat Cat)
- 2010 You Can Take Your Time (Fat Cat)
Contributions[link]
- 2001 "I Will Never Marry", on the compilation album Comes with a Smile, Volume 3 - Pretty Together
- 2005 "The Matter (of Our Discussion)", on the Boom Bip album Blue Eyed in the Red Room (Lex)
- 2005 "Bird of Cuzco", song on John Peel: A Tribute compilation (WEA)
- 2009 "Repulsion", on the compilation album Black and White, given free with issue #12 of Esopus[6]
Band members[link]
- Nina Nastasia, voice & guitars
- Steven Beck, piano (Run to Ruin, On Leaving)
- Jay Bellerose, drums (The Blackened Air, On Leaving, Outlaster)
- Paul Bryan, bass, orchestral arrangements (Outlaster)
- Joshua Carlebach, accordion (Dogs, The Blackened Air, Run to Ruin)
- Oto Carillo, french horn (Outlaster)
- Stephen Day, cello (Dogs, The Blackened Air, Run to Ruin, Outlaster)
- Kennan Gudjonsson, piano (Dogs)
- Anne Mette Iversen, double bass (Run to Ruin)
- Juliann Klopotic, violin (Dogs)
- Rubin Kodheli, cello (On Leaving)
- Gerry Leonard, guitar, mandolin (Dogs, The Blackened Air, Run to Ruin)
- June Matayoshi, oboe, english horn (Outlaster)
- Gonzalo Muñoz, saw (Dogs, The Blackened Air)
- Jeff Parker, guitar (Outlaster)
- Dave Richards, bass (Dogs, The Blackened Air, Run to Ruin)
- Jason Stein, bass clarinet (Outlaster)
- Matt Szemela, violin (Outlaster)
- Amie Weiss, violin (Outlaster)
- Jim White, drums (Run to Ruin, On Leaving, You Follow Me)
- Dylan Willemsa, viola, violin (The Blackened Air, Run to Ruin, On Leaving)
- Peter Yanowitz, drums (Dogs)
- Lev 'Ljova' Zhurbin, viola (Outlaster)
References[link]
- ^ DISCORDER Nina Nastasia
- ^ Nina Nastasia's page at BBC's John Peel website www.bbc.co.uk. Access date: October 13, 2010.
- ^ Nina Nastasia New Single: Nina Nastasia News on This Is Fake DIY
- ^ "Cry, Cry, Baby" press release information www.fat-cat.co.uk. Access date: 2010-03-29.
- ^ Incoming: Nina Nastasia release information www.wearsthetrousers.com. Access date: 2010-03-29.
- ^ ESOPUS #12 CD: BLACK AND WHITE LYRICS/CREDITS http://www.esopusmag.com. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
Note: "Repulsion" listed down bottom of the page, as track 11.
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Nastasia, Nina |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | |
| Place of birth | |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Nina_Nastasia
Related pages:
http://ru.wn.com/Нина Настасья
http://fr.wn.com/Nina Nastasia
http://de.wn.com/Nina Nastasia
http://it.wn.com/Nina Nastasia
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Nastasia
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
