Sacsayhuamán, often spelled Saqsaywaman or Xacxaguaman, (possibly from Quechua language, waman falcon or variable hawk), is a citadel on the northern outskirts of the city of Cusco, Peru, the historic capital of the Inca Empire. The site is at an altitude of . The complex was built by the Incas in the 15th century, particularly under Emperor Pachacuti and his successors. Dry stone walls constructed of huge stones were built on the site, with the workers carefully cutting the boulders to fit them together tightly without mortar. In 1983, Cusco and Sacsayhuamán together were designated as sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List, for international recognition and protection. Description Located on a steep hill that overlooks the city, the fortified complex has a wide view of the valley to the southeast. Archeological studies of surface collections of pottery at Sacsayhuamán indicate that the earliest occupation of the hilltop dates to about 900 CE. According to Inca oral history, Tupac Inca "remembered that his father Pachacuti had called city of Cuzco the lion city. He said that the tail was where the two rivers unite which flow through it, that the body was the great square and the houses round it, and that the head was wanting."The Inca decided the "best head would be to make a fortress on a high plateau to the north of the city." During the 15th century, the Imperial Inca expanded on this settlement, building dry stone walls constructed of huge stones. Spanish Chronicler Pedro Cieza De Leon wrote in 1553: "The Fortress had been begun in the days of Pachacuti; his son Topa Inca and Huayna Capac and Huascar [d. 1532] added greatly to it." Cieza writes of the construction that Pachacuti "ordered 20,000 men sent in from the proviences" and that "4000 of them quarried and cut the stones; 6000 hauled them with great cables of leather and hemp; the others dug the dig and laid the foundations, while still others cut poles and beams for the timbers." After ambushing Atahualpa during the Spanish Conquest of Peru, Francisco Pizarro sent Martin Bueno and two other Spaniards to help transport gold and silver from the Temple of Coricancha in Cusco to Cajamarca, where the Spaniards were based. They found the Temple of the Sun "covered with plates of gold", which the Spanish supposedly ordered removed as payment for Atahualpa's ransom. Seven hundred plates were removed,