Cuzco was the Rome of the south of the Western hemisphere. The town was traversed by four high-roads in the direction of the four points of the compass. It was divided into an upper (_Hanau_) and a lower (_Hurin_) town. Grouped around the central square in the form of an oval were twelve subdivisions (_Carrios_). Here stood the great palace, one mile in length and a quarter of a mile broad; the _Yachahuasi_ (_Huasi_, houses) dedicated to the instruction of the youth; the _Galpones_, edifices in which festivals were held; the convent of the Virgins of the Sun, the _Corichanca_ or Palace of Gold, and the temple dedicated to the sun, surrounded by chapels dedicated to the moon, the stars, and to thunder and lightning. Here also stood the eighth wonder of the world--the great fortress _Sacsahuaman_; the entrances with slanting jambs, and a large plinth, constructed like inverted stairs, sometimes in stone, sometimes in excellent stucco, either with or without ornament. The three lines of massive walls round the town, forming the defence, were constructed ‘en tenaille,’ the entering angles all being ninety degrees; the very best European fortifications, planned by Vauban or Moltke, could not surpass the terrace-like arrangement of these three lines of defence. The polygonal blocks, of which the walls are constructed, are of blue limestone, from eight to ten feet in length, half as much in width and depth, and weigh from fifteen to twenty tons each. The first wall has an average height of about twenty-five feet, the second eighteen feet, and the third fourteen feet. Total elevation of walls, fifty-seven feet.