The Inca empire was the last and largest in a succession of native civilizations inhabiting the area, including the Chavin and the Nazca. Incan expansion was abruptly curtailed by the arrival of Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1527. On January 6, 1535, the Feast of the Epiphany, Pizarro founded Lima, whose Spanish colonial-style center remains largely unchanged. The country was relatively tranquil under rule from Madrid until it was liberated in 1824 by revolutionaries Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin. Conflicts with Chile and Ecuador followed. Since World War II, the country has alternated between military and civilian rule. The current, democratically elected government has been plagued by rebel groups, including the notorious Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path)and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement.

Lima, located midway down Perus coastline, is the hot and crowded capital, and suffers the social ills common to all South American cities. Nevertheless, the nearly 500-year-old city resonates with history. Any walking tour of the city should include the Plaza de Armas and the silver-ornamented cathedral where Pizarro is buried, City Hall, the baroque San Francisco church and catacombs, the Inquisition Building, and Torre Tagle Palace.

Most visitors come to Peru for its Inca sites in the Andes. Cuzco, 3,300 meters (10,825 feet) above sea level, juxtaposes Inca temples and 17th-century churches. From Cuzco, hikers can take the spectacular three-day Inca Trail past a succession of mysterious ruins ranged against unimaginably beautiful cloud forests and snowy peaks. Discovered in 1911 by American Hiram Bingham, Machu Picchus magisterial terrace complexes, located northwest of Cuzco, are invisible from the floor of the valley. Nowadays, the ruins are thronged with tourists from June to September, as are the nearby Sacsayhuaman remains.

There may be no South American city more beautiful than the so-called white city of Arequipa, situated at the base of volcanic El Misti in southern Peru. Many buildings in Arequipa are made of sillar--a pearly volcanic rock--and ornamented with balconies and intricate ironwork. Among the citys notable 17th- and 18th-century buildings are the expansive Santa Catalina Convent and the churches in the Yanahuara area, carved in the baroque Churrigueresque style.

Other Peruvian attractions of note include the southern coastal city of Ica and the plains traced by the Nazca Lines--ancient animal designs so large that they can be viewed only from the air (flights are readily arranged).