page_title: Cusco
section_title: Plaza de Armas de Cusco
hierarchical_section_title: Cusco / Main sites / Architectural heritage / Plaza de Armas de Cusco
caption_attribution_description: English: Church of la Compañía de Jesus, Cusco, Peru
context_page_description: Cusco, often spelled Cuzco, is a city in southeastern Peru, on the eastern end of the Knot of Cuzco near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru, and in 2017 it had a population of 428,450. Its elevation is around 3,400 m.
  The city was the historic capital of the Inca Empire from the 13th century until the 16th-century Spanish conquest. In 1983, Cusco was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO with the title "City of Cuzco". It has become a major tourist destination, hosting nearly 2 million visitors a year. The Constitution of Peru designates it as the Historical Capital of Peru.
  Since 1976, the preferred local spelling of the city has been Cusco, to reflect current pronunciation in Spanish and Quechua; since 1990 local authorities adopted Qosqo as the spelling, to be more closely aligned with the Quechua language.
context_section_description: Known as the "Square of the warrior" in the Inca era, this plaza has been the scene of several important events, such as the proclamation by Francisco Pizarro in the conquest of Cuzco.
  Similarly, the Plaza de Armas was the scene of the death of Túpac Amaru II, considered the indigenous leader of the resistance.
  The Spanish built stone arcades around the plaza which endure to this day. The main cathedral and the Church of La Compañía both open directly onto the plaza.
caption: Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús
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