05The story
Five thousand years of civilisations
Cities from the third millennium BC, drawings in the desert, the Inca capital and their mountain citadels: milestones in Peru's heritage.
c. 2600 BC
Caral rises north of Lima, the oldest known city in the Americas, inhabited until about 2000 BC.
500 BC – AD 500
The Nazca Lines are drawn in the southern coastal desert.
1438
The Incas begin expanding from their capital Cusco, building the largest state in the pre-Columbian Americas.
c. 1450
Machu Picchu is built on a mountain saddle above the Urubamba River.
1535
Lima is founded as the City of Kings on the Pacific coast.
1911
Hiram Bingham brings Machu Picchu to world attention.
1983
The City of Cuzco and Machu Picchu join the World Heritage List.
2009
The Sacred City of Caral-Supe joins the World Heritage List.