Vitcos

Vitcos was a residence of Inca nobles and a ceremonial center of the Neo-Inca State (1537–1572) [1]. The archaeological site of ancient Vitcos, called Rosaspata, is in the Vilcabamba District of La Convención Province, Cusco Region in Peru [1]. The ruins are on a ridge overlooking the confluence of two small rivers and the village of Pucyura [1]. The Incas had occupied Vilcabamba, the region in which Vitcos is located, about AD 1450, establishing major centers at Machu Picchu, Choquequirao, Vitcos, and Vilcabamba [1]. Vitcos was often the residence of the rulers of the Neo-Inca state until the Spanish conquest of this last stronghold of the Incas in 1572 [1]. The location of Vitcos was later forgotten until 1911 when explorer Hiram Bingham identified the ruins known to local Peruvians as Rosaspata as ancient Vitcos [1].