History of the Incas History of the Incas The Incas were most notable for establishing the Inca Empire in pre-Columbian America, which was centered in what is now Peru from 1438 to 1533 C.E. and represented the height of the Inca civilization. The Inca state was known as the Kingdom of Cusco before 1438. Over the course of the Inca Empire, the Inca used conquest and peaceful assimilation to incorporate in their empire a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean mountain ranges. However, shortly after the Inca Civil War, the last Sapa Inca (emperor) of the Inca Empire was captured
Machu Picchu center. Owned by the National University of San Antonio Abad del Cusco, La Casa Concha also features a study area for local and foreign students. The Paramount Pictures film "Secret of the Incas" (1955), with Charlton Heston and Ima Sumac, was filmed on location at Cusco and Machu Picchu, the first time that a major Hollywood studio filmed on site. Five hundred indigenous people were hired as extras in the film. The opening sequence of the film "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" (1972) was shot in the Machu Picchu area and on the stone stairway of Huayna Picchu. Machu Picchu