CUZCO, an inland department and city of southern Peru. The department is bounded by those of Apurimac, Ayacucho, Junin, Loreto, Madre de Dios, Puno and Arequipa, and touches Brazil (area 55,731 sq.m.). It consists of mountains, a network of high valleys tributary to great rivers, Apurimac and Urubamba, and low, jungle-covered plains. Within the summer-rain zone, the climate changes with altitude, ranging from tropical to frigid. Sugar, cacao, coca, coffee and tobacco are raised in the lower valleys, maize, cereals, alfalfa, potatoes and barley above. The amount of cultivation depends upon markets; i.e., transportation. Cattle are raised in northern valleys, sheep and alpacas in the southern provinces. Though the department is rich in minerals (gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, coal, salt and others), few mines are in operation, also for lack of transportation. There were in 1926, 338 m. of finished roads in the department, most of which were within the Vilcanota-Urubamba valley. A branch of the Mollendo-Cuzco railway, Huambutio to Santa Ana, was also under construction. Manufacturing is still in embryo. The population is largely composed of Indians who speak their native tongue (Quechua). The department abounds in ruins, of which the most famous are in the Urubamba valley. Intihuatana (Pisac), 011antaitambo and Machupichu (see INcAs). Wireless telegraphic communication has recently been established between the city of Cuzco and Maldonado, on the Madre de Dios.
Cuzco, capital of the department (13° 31' S., 7 2 ° W.), lies in a small valley (Huatanay) tributary to the Urubamba, at a height of 11,38o feet. It is protected by lofty mountains and surrounded by orchards, gardens and cultivated fields. The estimated popu lation, 20,000, is mostly Indians and half-breeds. Founded in the 11th century by Manco Capac, first of the Incas, it has legendary prestige as capital of that vast empire. It is a strange mixture of massive Inca stone walls, early Spanish colonial architecture of which the Renaissance cathedral (156o-16S4) is a superb example-and crude adobe buildings of the present day. The houses are often built upon a foundation of Inca stone-work, the modern superstructure roofed with red tile. The narrow, irregular streets are roughly paved, the wide plazas, surrounded by arcades, the site of busy markets and weekly fairs. Cuzco is still in many respects a primitive Indian city, the pure, transparent air com pensating for lack of sanitation. The climate is chilly (mean annual temperature 53°-59° F), the nights cold, with rains from November to March. The cyclopean fortress of Sachsaihuaman dominates the city on the north. Among the principal buildings are the cathedral, the convent of Santo Domingo, incorporating in its walls part of the Inca temple of the sun (Coricancha), the prefecture (palace of Francisco Pizarro, who took the city in the university (founded in 1598, secularized in 1828), hospitals, library and museum of pre-Columbian Peruvian antiqui ties. It is the seat of a bishopric and superior court, has many monasteries and convents and more than 20 churches. The uni versity, with f our faculties (jurisprudence, political science, letters and physical science), has about students. There are two colegios nacionales and many elementary schools. Though ancient industries such as gold and silver work are fast disappearing, there are several small manufactories such as breweries, tanneries, sugar and chocolate mills. One cotton mill produces i,000,000 yd. annually. Cuzco is the trade hub of a vast region but commerce is limited on account of transportation costs. The railway to Mollendo, more than Soo m. distant, is the only outlet to the coast. There are a few modern conveniences in this vener able city, including electric lights (power furnished by a hydro electric station io m. distant), a mule-drawn tram, a telephone system and, since 1925, a new water-supply. This involved bring ing in additional sources of supply, building storage reservoirs, and laying pipe-lines in the narrow, cobblestone streets, 104,800 ft. in all. It was necessary to build a motor-road 9 m. long to permit delivery of cement pipe along the route, manufacturing it on the spot in a plant set up for the purpose. (M. T. Bi.)