Sights

, which exhibits the development of culture in the region from pre-Inca, through Inca times to the present day. The museum has a good combination of textiles, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, architecture, technology, photographs, 3-D displays and a section on coca. There is an excellent collection of miniature turquoise figures and other objects made as offerings to the gods. The display of skulls, deliberately deformed by trepanning is fascinating, as is the full-size tomb complete with mummies stuck in urns. Note the pillar on the balcony over the door, showing a bearded man from inside and a naked woman from the outside. During the high season, local Quechuan weavers can be seen working and selling in the courtyard. The weavings are for sale; expensive but high quality.

, which has a fine collection of colonial paintings, furniture and mirrors. The Spanish tiles are said

, is a simple rectangular adobe building whose walls were reinforced with stone after the 1650 and 1950 earthquakes. It houses one of the most famous pieces of wood carving in the Americas, a beautiful mestizo pulpit carved from a single cedar trunk.

 (House of the Chosen Women), whose nobility, virtue and beauty permitted them to be prepared for ceremonial and domestic duties - some were chosen to bear the Inca king's children. Today the convent is a closed order where the nuns have no contact with the outside world. The church has an ornate, gilded altarpiece and a beautifully carved pulpit. The museum has a wonderful collection of Cuzqueño school paintings spanning the decades of Spanish rule - a good guide can point out how the style changes from the heavy European influence to the more indigenous style.

The first Inca, Manco Cápac, is said to have built the temple when he left Lake Titicaca and founded Cuzco with Mama Ocllo. However, it was the ninth Inca, Pachacútec, who transformed it. When the Spaniards arrived, the complex was awarded to Juan Pizarro, the younger brother of Francisco. He in turn willed it to the Dominicans who ripped much of it down to build their church.

Walk first into the courtyard then turn around to face the door you just passed through. Behind and to the left of the paintings (representing the life of Santo Domingo Guzmán) is Santo Domingo. This was where the Temple of the Sun stood, a massive structure 80 m wide, 20 m deep and 7 m in height. Only the curved wall of the western end still exists and will be seen (complete with a large crack from the 1950 earthquake), when you later walk left through to the lookout over the Solar Garden. Still in the baroque cloister, close by and facing the way you came in, turn left and cross to the remains of the Temple of the Moon, identifiable by a series of niches. Beyond this is the so-called Temple of Venus and the Stars. Stars were special deities used to predict weather, wealth and crops. In the Temple of Lightning on the other side of the courtyard is a stone; stand on it and you will appreciate how good the Incas were as stonemasons: all three windows are in perfect alignment.

, formerly the Museo Arqueológico, is now housed in an underground site on Avenida Sol, in the gardens below Santo Domingo. It contains a limited collection of pre-Columbian artefacts, a few Spanish paintings of imitation Inca royalty, dating from the 18th century, and photos of the excavation of Qoricancha.

, was razed in the 1650 earthquake and rebuilt by indigenous stonemasons in the late 17th century. The high altar is neoclassical with six gilded columns. There are a further 12 altars. Inside the church are buried Gonzalo Pizarro, half-brother of Francisco, and the two Almagros, father and son. Attached is a fine monastery. The first cloister is the most beautiful, with its two floors, archways and pillars. The pictures on the first floor depict the Saints of the Order (those of the second floor have been removed for restoration).

, reflects many indigenous influences, but it has a wonderful monastery, cloister and choir. Although at the time of writing the monastery was not officially open to the public, it is possible to visit. Approach the door to the left of the church and knock on it. The cloister is the oldest in the city, built in the Renaissance style, but with diverse influences. The ground floor has several crypts containing human bones. The high choir contains 92 carvings of martyrs and saints.

There are some magnificent Inca walls in the ruined ceremonial centre of Sacsayhuaman, on a hill in the northern outskirts. The Inca stonework is hugely impressive. The massive rocks weighing up to 130 tons are fitted together with absolute perfection. Three walls run parallel for over 360 m and there are 21 bastions.

The hieratic, rather than the military, hypothesis was supported by the discovery in 1982 of the graves of priests, who would have been unlikely to be buried in a fortress. The precise functions of the site, however, will probably continue to be a matter of dispute, as very few clues remain, due to its steady destruction.

The site survived the first years of the conquest. Pizarro's troops had entered Cuzco unopposed in 1533 and lived safely at Sacsayhuaman, until the rebellion of Manco Inca, in 1536, caught them off guard. The bitter struggle that ensued became the decisive military action of the conquest, for Manco's failure to hold Sacsayhuaman cost him the war, and the empire. The destruction of the hilltop site began after the defeat of Manco's rebellion. The outer walls still stand, but the complex of towers and buildings was razed to the ground. From then until the 1930s, Sacsayhuaman served as a kind of unofficial quarry of pre-cut stone for the inhabitants of Cuzco.

. These are not exactly ruins, but are the finest examples of Inca stone carving

, whose name translates as 'Red Fort', was more likely to have been a

, still in excellent condition. There are many opinions as to the function of this place. Some say it was a resting place for the Incas and others that it was used by Inca Yupanqui as a hunting place. There are three ceremonial water fountains built on different levels. It is possible that the site was a centre of a water cult. Water still flows via a hidden channel out of the masonry wall, straight into a rock pool, traditionally known as the Inca's bath.