Information about Cusco

There is some uncertainty about the correct name in the early centuries of the existence of this important city in pre-Columbian South America, his name was Akamama according to some chroniclers, and according to Guaman Poma de Ayala means "Mother of Chicha" (chicha is a type of fermented corn beer). Possibly was Aqhamama -in the modern Quechua spelling, or "chicha mother". When this was the ancient Capital of the Tawantinsuyo, it was named as Cusco, word that is translated as "navel" or "center". After the Spanish invasion in 1533 the name was transformed into Cuzco, which derogatory in Spanish dictionary meaning "hypocrite", "humpback" and "small dog". This was a way to minimize or satirize the name of the city. Then the name was changed into Cusco, because here "z" is not pronounced as in Spain.

In the late twentieth century a very strong social movement is willing to preserve the original name of this ancient city; and from June 20, 1990, the Municipality of the city by the town council agreement No. 078-A / MC-SG-90 stated that the official name is Qosqo.

History of Cusco

The origins of Cusco are lost in the mists of time. Archaeological excavations made us know that the valley Cusco (except for its bottom, then marshy) was already inhabited by primitive settlers about three millennia ago.

By the twelfth century, emerged from the waters of Lake Titicaca, Manco Capac and his sister and wife Mama Ocllo, demigods and son of Inti (the sun god), with the mission of founding a new kingdom to improve living conditions of peoples. Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo would have to walk to find a place on earth where the great gold scepter that Manco Cápac had would submerge, they walked to the north and reached Pacárec Tampu (Pacaritambo) where they rested in a small cave; at dawn they continued to the north arriving to the hill and there the scepter Huanacaure sank, and founded the city of Cusco. Also called Qosqo or Cusco (Quechua: the navel of the world).