Huánuco

At first glance Huánuco is just a picturesque collection of colonial buildings and churches along the Río Huallaga amid rocky, forested mountains: an archetypal Spanish settlement, but history runs far deeper here. Evidence of some of Peru's earliest human settlements, and some of the oldest ruins in the country, were found nearby at Lauricocha and Kotosh. Pre-Inca ruins have turned up throughout these mountains, notably at Tantamayo and Garu. Huánuco was an Inca stronghold and a convenient stopover on their route from Cusco north to Cajamarca. Thousands of Inca relics litter the surrounding pampas.