This high-Andean reserve protects the graceful vicuña that was nearly hunted to extinction for its precious wool.

Built on the remains of one the Incas’ most important gathering spots, this square keeps the spirit of a fallen empire alive.

These ruined Incan mausoleum towers still bear carvings of sacred animals on their blocks.

An Inca spa, military outpost or maybe… both?

Mysterious "dots" seen from a satellite in southeast Peru.

Mystic Incan rock piles three miles above sea level.

The sophisticated hydraulic system of the Nazca civilization.

It took 82 years and four different plaques to finally get the story right.

The Incas turned this ancient Wari aqueduct into an imposing defensive gate.

Peru’s only toy museum houses everything from pre-Inca whistles to lead soldiers and terrifying dolls.

Situated on a sacred Inca site, this 16th-century cathedral took nearly 100 years to build.

This set of mysterious petroglyphs in the Peruvian jungle could shed light on centuries-old activities in the region.

Ancient Peruvian fertility temple or modern money-making hoax? Either way these monoliths still look like penises.

This geometric feat is a testament to the Incas' mesmerizing architectural abilities.

After an epic flood washed away its enslavers, this city has been part ghost town, part cultural wildcard for the past three centuries.

The depictions of slaughter are surprisingly detailed at this mysterious ancient site.

A paradisical gorge with rapids, waterfalls, and wildlife whose raw beauty is the stuff of CGI movies.

This small oxbow lake has rare giant river otters and some Seussian-sounding birds.

Pre-Incan aqueduct amidst a stone forest in Peru.

This metal tower in the desert provides views of a handful of Nazca geoglyphs.

The shockingly unspoiled Peruvian tomb of the Lord of Sipan was once guarded by a footless warrior.

The large collection of pre-Columbian pottery might make you blush.

Hundreds of mummies in a silent room, some with eerily pained expressions preserved on their faces.

An abandoned Incan construction project left behind a mysterious "doorway."