Peru

Amantani, Pachatata & Pachamama

Part of Lake Titicaca

Santa Rosa, Puno, Peru

Amantani rises from Lake Titicaca with two peaks — Pachatata (Father Earth) and Pachamama (Mother Earth) — each crowned with pre-Inca temples that are opened only once a...

Aramu Muru

Ilave, Puno, Peru

On a volcanic hillside near Lake Titicaca, a T-shaped doorway 7 meters square is carved into solid rock—leading nowhere visible....

Archaeological Sanctuary of Pachacamac

Lurín, Lima Province, Peru

Pachacamac was Peru's most powerful oracle for over a millennium. Named for the creator god Pacha Kamaq—the 'Earth Maker' who could cause earthquakes with a single...

Ayacucho Cathedral

Ayacucho, Ayacucho, Peru

Built from pink and gray stone over four decades (1632-1672), the Basilica Cathedral of Santa Maria rises from Ayacucho's Plaza de Armas like a prayer made permanent....

Cahuachi Nazca site

Nazca, Ica, Peru

For five hundred years, pilgrims journeyed across the desert to Cahuachi—not to live but to worship, to bury their dead, and perhaps to participate in the creation of the...

Centro Arqueológico de Chinchero

Chinchero, Cusco, Peru

Chinchero is not a ruin. An Inca royal estate, a colonial church with syncretic murals, terraces still walked daily, and a Quechua community whose women have woven on...

Centro Arqueológico Puka Pukara

Cusco, Cusco, Peru

Puka Pukara sits on high ground 7 km from Cusco. Known as the Red Fortress for the colour its stones take at dusk.

Chavín de Huántar

Chavín de Huantar, Ancash, Peru

Rising from a high Andean valley at the confluence of two rivers, Chavin de Huantar served as the Americas' earliest pilgrimage center for over five hundred years....

Choquequirao Archaeological Park, Peru

Santa Teresa, Apurimac, Peru

While Machu Picchu receives 2,500 visitors daily, Choquequirao sees only about twelve....

Chullpa Lagarto

Part of Sillustani

Sillustani, Puno, Peru

The Chullpa del Lagarto rises above the other funerary towers at Sillustani with the authority its builders intended....

Chullpas Sillustani

Part of Sillustani

Sillustani, Puno, Peru

On a peninsula jutting into Lake Umayo near Puno, ninety-one stone towers stand in various states of preservation — from intact cylinders to tumbled foundations....

Church of Saint John the Baptist of Huaytara

Huaytará, Huancavelica, Peru

In Huaytara, colonial authorities built the Church of San Juan Bautista directly atop an Inca structure—possibly a Temple of the Sun built by Pachacutec during the...

Complejo Arqueológico Q'enqo

Cusco, Cusco, Peru

Q'enqo ('labyrinth') is an Inca ceremonial complex 4 km from Cusco at 3,580m, with an Intihuatana, underground galleries, and zigzag channels.

Diocesan Shrine of the Captive Lord of Ayabaca

Distrito de Ayabaca, Piura, Peru

In the mountains of northwestern Peru, near the border with Ecuador, stands a Christ with bound hands—the Captive Lord of Ayabaca....

El Templo de los Monos

Part of Complejo Arqueológico Q'enqo

Cusco, Cusco, Peru

Cusilluchayoc (Temple of the Monkeys) is a ceremonial centre carved from living rock 500 metres from Q'enqo Grande.

El Ushnu

Vilcashuaman, Ayacucho, Peru

At the heart of Vilcashuamán — what the Inca regarded as the geographic centre of their empire — a five-tiered stone platform rises above a trapezoidal plaza....

Huaca Pachatosa

Cusco, Cusco, Peru

Huaca Pachatosa is a sacred site in Cusco where excavations revealed evidence of burnt offerings spanning pre-Inca and Inca periods.

Huaca Sapantiana

Cusco, Cusco, Peru

Huaca Sapantiana is a sacred Inca site in Cusco's San Blas neighbourhood where a carved limestone bedrock sits in a ravine beside a colonial aqueduct....

Iglesia de Santo Domingo & Korikancha

Cusco, Cusco, Peru

At the heart of Cusco, the foundations of the Inca Empire's holiest temple rise beneath a Spanish colonial church....

Killarumiyoq

Ancahuasi, Cusco, Peru

Hidden in the hills above Cusco, Killarumiyoq preserves the Inca's most elaborate dedication to Mama Quilla, the Moon Goddess....

Líneas de Nazca

Nazca, Ica, Peru

Across fifty square kilometres of Peruvian desert, the Nazca people etched more than a thousand kilometres of lines and hundreds of figures into the earth between 500 BC...

Llactapata

Ollantaytambo district, Cusco, Peru

Llactapata sits on a forested ridge across the Aobamba gorge from Machu Picchu, its plaza and long corridor apparently aimed at the June solstice sunrise and at Machu...

Machu Picchu

Machupicchu, Cusco, Peru

For nearly four hundred years, Machu Picchu waited in the cloud forest, abandoned but not destroyed, its stones slowly embraced by jungle while Spanish conquistadors...

Marcahuamachuco Archaeological Complex

Huamachuco, La Libertad, Peru

On an elongated mesa dominating three mountain valleys in northern Peru, Marcahuamachuco sprawls across 260 hectares—a vast sanctuary built between 400 and 1,200 CE,...

Nasca - El Araña

Part of Líneas de Nazca

Nazca, Ica, Peru

The Spider geoglyph measures forty-seven metres in length and is rendered with remarkable anatomical detail....

Nasca - El Árbol

Part of Líneas de Nazca

Nazca, Ica, Peru

The Tree geoglyph consists of a short, thick trunk that splits and expands into numerous large branches decorated with smaller twig-like extensions in a lush, flourishing...

Nasca - El Astronauta

Part of Líneas de Nazca

Nazca, Ica, Peru

The Astronaut is a humanoid figure etched into a hillside rather than the flat desert floor, making it unusual among Nazca geoglyphs....

Nasca - El Caracol

Part of Líneas de Nazca

Nazca, Ica, Peru

The Caracol depicts a spiral form approximately sixty metres across.

Nasca - El Colibrí

Part of Líneas de Nazca

Nazca, Ica, Peru

The Hummingbird is perhaps the most iconic of all Nazca geoglyphs. At ninety-three metres long, its pointed beak, well-defined wings, and elegant tail are rendered with...

Nasca - El Cóndor

Part of Líneas de Nazca

Nazca, Ica, Peru

At one hundred and thirty-four metres, the Condor is one of the largest figurative geoglyphs in the Nazca corpus....

Nasca - El Garza

Part of Líneas de Nazca

Nazca, Ica, Peru

The Heron geoglyph depicts a long-necked wading bird stretching across the desert floor, approximately three hundred metres in length.

Nasca - El Loro

Part of Líneas de Nazca

Nazca, Ica, Peru

The Parrot depicts a tropical bird with head, beak, and crest visible. Lower portions partially erased.

Nasca - El Manos

Part of Líneas de Nazca

Nazca, Ica, Peru

The Hands geoglyph depicts two human hands reaching upward, one with four fingers and one with five. Visible from the Mirador alongside the Tree.

Nasca - El Mono

Part of Líneas de Nazca

Nazca, Ica, Peru

The Monkey geoglyph measures ninety-three by fifty-eight metres and is instantly recognisable by its spiralling tail and distinctive nine-fingered hands....

Nasca - El Pelícano

Part of Líneas de Nazca

Nazca, Ica, Peru

At approximately two hundred and eighty-five metres, the Pelican is one of the longest figurative geoglyphs....

Nasca - El Perro

Part of Líneas de Nazca

Nazca, Ica, Peru

The Dog geoglyph depicts a canine figure approximately fifty-one metres in length with straight parallel legs, an open mouth, and upright ears and tail.

Nasca - La Ballena

Part of Líneas de Nazca

Nazca, Ica, Peru

The Whale geoglyph depicts a marine creature approximately twenty-seven metres in length on the desert floor....

Nasca - La Flor

Part of Líneas de Nazca

Nazca, Ica, Peru

The Flower — petals radiating from a centre, approximately eighty metres across.

Nasca - La Lagartija

Part of Líneas de Nazca

Nazca, Ica, Peru

The Lizard, approximately 188 metres, is bisected by the Panamericana Sur highway. Upper portion visible from the Mirador.

Ollantaytambo Archeological Site

Compone, Cusco, Peru

At Ollantaytambo, terraces rise like stairs for giants, and six colossal stone blocks mark an unfinished Temple of the Sun that will never be completed....

Patallaqta (Patallacta)

Ollantaytambo District, Ollantaytambo District, Cusco Region, Peru

This record is Patallaqta beside the Inca Trail. It must not be conflated with the different Llactapata site overlooking Machu Picchu....

Paucartambo—Fiesta de la Virgen del Carmen

Paucartambo, Cusco, Peru

The Whale geoglyph depicts a marine creature approximately twenty-seven metres in length on the desert floor....

Phuyupatamarca

Machu Picchu district, Cusco, Peru

Phuyupatamarca sits at roughly 3,600 meters, often wreathed in cloud, its terraced slopes and stone fountains still fed by an underground water system that has functioned...

Pisac Incan Archaeological Complex

Pisac, Cusco, Peru

Pisac sprawls across a mountain ridge at the entrance to the Sacred Valley, its terraces forming an inverted triangle that descends toward the Urubamba River....

Pukara, Templo Santa Isabel

Pukara, Puno, Peru

Long before the Inca, Pukara dominated the northern Lake Titicaca basin. Beginning around 1,800 BCE, this was the region's first large urban center, with a ceremonial...

Q'enco Archeological Complex

Cuzco, Cusco, Peru

Q'enco rises from Socorro hill, four kilometers from Cusco—a huaca carved entirely from living rock....

Qoyllorit’i

Ocongate, Cusco, Peru

The sanctuary in the Sinakara hollow is the gathering place of the pilgrimage of the Lord of Qoyllurit'i, inscribed by UNESCO in 2011....

Ruins of Montegrande

Jaén, Cajamarca, Peru

Rising from the rice paddies outside Jaén, a mound as tall as a five-story building conceals one of Peru's most ancient mysteries: a spiral temple built around 3000 BCE by...