A temple at the center of Cuzco, Peru, called Qorikancha, marks the place of Inca origins and it is the primary temple of the sun god Inti. The story goes that Inti plucked a golden staff from the sun, instructing his children to use it to find a place to build a city. When they found the right place, Inti instructed, the staff would sink into the ground. When the siblings reached the valley of Cuzco, they planted the staff and it sank deep into the earth, so they knew they were in the right place. 

The Inca established this first holding around 12th century A.D., and eventually built a kingdom spanning the distance of Ecuador to Chile, with 12 million inhabitants from more than 100 ethnic groups at its peak. This sacred story marks beginning of a time of incredible Incan expansion and innovation.