Cuzco is a city in southeastern
Peru in the
Andes mountain range. Cuzco is a high altitude (
altiplano) city of moderate size. Its name, in the
Quechua language, means "navel"; it was the capitol and cultural center of the
Tawantinsuyu -- the Incan Empire. After the fall of the Empire in the
16th century to the Spanish conquistador Pizarro
?, Spanish colonists invaded the city. The effects of colonisation are seen throughout the city's architecture where Spanish buildings are juxtaposed atop the massive stone walls built by the Inca.