Cuzco (Qosqo) was the founding Incan city and eventual headquarters of the Incan empire.  Quechua, the language of the empire, was spoken there.  The quechua word for "navel" was Cuzco.  The Incans thought of this city as the physical and cultural center of their empire, like a navel on the human body.

Cuzco was at the center of an elaborate system of roads that  spanned the empire.  These routes allowed the chaski (runner-messengers) to spread information at about the same rate that it takes the post office to send packages around the U. S. today.  Considering the mountainous terrain of the empire, this was quite efficient.  Armies also traveled on the road network, allowing the Incas to discipline or conquer outlying villages.

Downtown Cuzco was in shape of a crouching puma (see the map above). The head is at the upper left.  The name for the area curling around the bottom from right to left is the pumaqchupan, or "puma's tail" district.

Naturally, there was an elaborate palace in the capital city.  The Incan emperors lived here.  Like many other Inca stone buildings, this structure featured finely crafted walls, as you see at the left.

The Incas ruled other cities from Cuzco.  Machu Picchu was one of these.  This was a village where hundreds of women lived.  Eighty percent of the mummies found at Machu Picchu were female.  Apparently, this was the site of a mountain-top harem.  The "virgins of the sun" who lived here were apparently expected to give their devoted "service" only to the emperor.  The emperor expected to have a ready supply of gold, labor, and even women to serve his needs.  Providing the emperor with goods and services, including sex, was considered to be part of one's civic and religious duties.