Qhapaq Ñan (Inca road system)
Qhapaq Ñan (red de caminos inca)
- Date
- c. 1450 · confidence medium
- Place
- Cusco, Peru
- Credited to
- Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu)
- Field
- Movement
What it is
Some 30,000 km of paved roads, stairways, causeways and waystations between Colombia and central Chile, crossing the Andes and the desert. It held together an empire without the wheel or the horse.
It incorporated pre-Inca sections (Wari, Chimú).
What it led to
- political and military control of the Tawantinsuyu
- the chasqui relay post
- UNESCO World Heritage status (2014)