In the year 1499, the greatest empire on the planet built cities in the clouds.

Spanning more than 4,000km over some of the steepest and most unforgiving terrain imaginable, the Inca were prosperous and wealthy in a way that most other empires could only dream of.

From his seat in the empire’s capital city Cuzco, the king Huyana Copec—who held the title of Sapa Inca—ruled over millions of citizens with ease, despite his people being spread the entire length of the continent. And perhaps most impressively, he achieved this despite the complete absence of iron, horses, the wheel, or even any kind of written language at all.

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