Cusco (also often spelled in Spanish Cuzco, and in the native Quechua language as Qusqu or Qosqo) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley ( Sacred Valley) of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cusco Province. The city has a population of about 300,000.

The historic capital of the sun-worshipping Inca empire . 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. But archaeological evidence points to a slower, more organic growth of the city beginning before Pachacuti. There was however a city plan, and two rivers were channeled around the city.

The major nearby Inca sites are Pachacuti's presumed winter home, Machu Picchu, which can be reached on foot by a Inca trail or by train; the "fortress" at Ollantaytambo and the "fortress" of Sacsayhuaman.

Other less visited ruins include Inca Wasi, the highest of all Inca sites at 3,980 m (13,134 feet), Old Vilcabamba the capital of the Inca after the capture of Cusco, the sculpture garden at Chulquipalta (aka Chuquipalta, Ñusta España, The White Rock, Yurak Rumi), as well as Huillca Raccay, Patallacta, Choquequirao, Moray and many others.