• The houses and temples of Machu Picchu compose one of the world's most famous landmarks.incas city machu-picchu in peru image by Galyna Andrushko from Fotolia.com
  
  The South American nation of Peru has a wealth of historical sites and monuments testifying to thousands of years of advanced civilization. Although the Incas were the last and best-known rulers of ancient Peru, there have been many other cultures that held sway in this land, and whose remains consist of temples, homes and entire cities spread among the country's arid plains and steep mountain valleys.
  
  

Chavin de Huantar

• This site, located about 50 miles from the town of Huaraz, was the center of the Chavin culture, which predated the Inca conquest of Peru. Visitors can walk among the ruins of buildings, terraces and ponds built of granite quarried from sites in the high Andes. The main temple site is built in a series of platforms supported by cylindrical columns and contains a maze-like complex of passageways, stairways, galleries and niches revealing advanced architectural skill.
  
  Chavin de Huantar
  c/o Instituto Nacional de Cultura
  Av. Javier Prado Este 2465
  San Borja, Lima 41, Peru
  +51-1-4769933
  
  

Chan Chan

• Chan Chan was the capital of Chimu, a domain that reached the zenith of its power in the 15th century, shortly before conquest by the Inca civilization. It spreads across 15 square kilometers near the coastal city of Trujillo in northern Peru. The homes, temples, palaces and aqueducts of Chan Chan were made of adobe, while carved stone heads and animal figures decorated its 12-meter walls. At its height, the city was home to more than 100,000 inhabitants, but plunder by the Spanish and weathering over the years has caused extensive damage. Some areas of the city have been restored for visitors, but large sections have been closed.
  
  Iperu/Edificio Chan Chan
  Plaza de Armas
  Jr. Diego de Almagro Nº 420
  Trujillo, Peru
  +51-044-29-4561
  
  

The Rescue Room

• This famous room memorializes the 1532 encounter between the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro and the Inca chief Atahualpa. Taken prisoner by the Spanish, Atahualpa was promised his freedom for a ransom of gold. The Inca promised to deliver enough gold to fill the room and enough silver to fill it twice, and over a period of several weeks, they succeeded in doing so. However, Pizarro had Atahualpa executed anyway. Although the room was eventually destroyed by the conquistadors, it has been reconstructed with original materials and designs.
  
  Cuarto del Rescate
  Amalia Street No. 750
  Cajamarca, Peru
  
  

Machu Picchu

• Located in the Andes Mountains about 70 miles northwest of Cuzco, this Inca town is located on a remote hilltop plain at an elevation of 7,546 feet. Discovered by American archaeologist Hiram Bingham in the early 20th century, Machu Picchu was a frontier stronghold designed to defend the cities, palaces and settlements in the Sacred Valley, the Inca homeland of which Cusco was the capital. The site encompasses houses, temples, walls, farming terraces and roads that are all well preserved and open to visitors.
  
  Edificio Machu Picchu
  c/o Iperu
  Av. Pachacutec cuadra 1 s/n, Of. 4
  Cusco, Peru
  +51-084-21-1104