Although the Spanish destroyed the Inca empire, they did not wipe out the Inca people. Their descendants live in the Andean highlands today. Many of them speak Quechua (pronounced KECH-wah), the Inca language.
Andean peoples still believe, as the Incas did, that high mountain peaks are sacred places, and they make pilgrimages to them to ensure good crops and productive herds. In the same way, people have continued the Inca practice of making offerings to local gods at shrines
A sculpture of Viracocha, the creator god of the Incas. Vir-acocha was an impersonal god who was not prominent in the daily life of the Incas. WERNER FORMAN/ART RESOURCE, NY.
And holy places scattered across the land that once made up the Inca empire.
The Incas left larger monuments in stone as well. Walls from their temples can still be seen in the city of Cuzco. Elsewhere in the former empire stand forts and temples. One of the best-known Inca monuments is the mountaintop complex called Machu Picchu (pronounced MAH-choo PEEK-choo), where the Incas once worshipped their sun god. American explorer Hiram Bingham discovered the ruins of this vast temple and brought them to the notice of the Outside world in 1912. Today Machu Picchu is one of Peru’s main tourist attractions.
The culture and mythology of the Incas was used as the inspiration for the 2000 Disney animated film The Emperor’s New Groove, which featured voice acting by David Spade, John Goodman, and Patrick Warburton.
World History
