Peru Map

The ancient Inca civilization was largely wiped out by the arrival of the Spanish in 1532 but their remaining ancestors in modern day Peru are known as the Quechua, the same as their language.

On the map above you will see Cusco and the nearby ancient ruins of Machu Picchu [aka Pichu]. Cuzco was the capital of the Inca kingdom that stretched into both Ecuador (map top left), and Chile (map centre bottom).

Despite not having the wheel or the arch, the Inca were great architects in their own right and their lack of iron was made up for by using gold for just about everything (This was the first thing the Spanish took back to Europe from Peru).

The other thing the Spanish took was the potato (Peruvian women digging potatoes are supposed to shove one in the face of the nearest man when they find an ugly one - potato that is).

The tomato is also linked to Peru or Ecuador with the earliest arrivals to Europe being very yellow in colour. Peanut plants have been found buried with Inca mummies from c.1200-1500 BC, so we may assume that they liked peanuts quite a lot. Avocado seeds have also been discovered in this way, predating Mexican discoveries by a couple of hundred years.

Unfortunately the Incas were not really prepared to do battle with the Spanish as all it took to take their capital was just over one hundred men and half as many horses, presumably some with altitude sickness. Despite potatoes, tomatoes, avocados and peanuts the Inca lacked the all important ingredient which would have saved both themselves and their beautiful golden world - gunpowder, though a knowledge of horses would also have helped them resist the gold-hungry conqistadors.

Unlike most of the world that uses a variation of 'Good day' as a greeting, the Incas used to say: 'don't lie, don't steal, don't be lazy!' And the response was: ' don't you too!'

So stop looking at this map, read our Peru Travel Guide and get yourself off to see Machu Picchu before the number one ancient wonder of the world slides off it's muddy mountain into a pile of rubble at the bottom, leaving us with only pictures and some lucky travellers' tales.