Pizarro, like all other Europeans, had the distinct advantage of firearms over the indigenous population he sought to subjugate. The Inca hadn’t been exposed to gunpowder until the rifles and cannons of the Spaniards were trained on them.

It was here that Francisco Pizarro displayed his great leadership abilities when he convinced thirteen men to stay behind with him and continue the expedition. The thirteen continued to explore the lands and continued to learn of a powerful leader that ruled over these lands.

Because he had killed several people during his conquest for Peru, he can be called a villain. However, since he can be credited for discovering the Pacific Ocean and founding the capital city of Peru, he can also be considered a hero for some.

Pizarro took several expeditions throughout South America, gaining land and wealth for Spain. But what he really did was establish Spanish roots for the conquest and colonization of Peru. Francisco Pizarro was born around 1475 in Trujillo, Spain.

Pizarro was to conquer the southern territory and establish a new Spanish province there. In 1532, accompanied by his brothers, Pizarro overthrew the Inca leader Atahualpa and conquered Peru. Three years later, he founded the new capital city of Lima.

From 1524-1525, then again from 1526-1528, he sailed with Almagro and a priest, Hernando de Luque, on voyages of discovery and conquest down the west coast of South America. The first expedition failed, but in 1526, Pizarro arrived in Peru and heard stories of a great ruler and his riches in the mountains.

All of his voyages were sponsored by Spain. Pizarro returned to Spain in 1528 and persuaded Charles V to let him conquer and make him governor of any new territories he discovered. In 1530, he returned to Panama with his four brothers and sailed down to Peru in 1531.

Trujillo, Spain

Francisco Pizarro, (born c. 1475, Trujillo, Extremadura, Castile [Spain]—died June 26, 1541, Lima [now in Peru]), Spanish conqueror of the Inca empire and founder of the city of Lima.

Pizarro brought change to Europe as well. He conquered Peru for Spain, which led to the Spanish culture dominating most of South America. Francisco Pizarro contributed to the world as well. When he made the expedition to the “South Sea” with Vasco Nunez de Balboa, he contributed to the discovery of the Pacific Ocean.

The first time Pizarro left Spain in 1509, he accompanied a voyage to Panama, which was being used as a Spanish base for explorations into South America. He then headed to the Gulf of Urabá off South America’s northern coast and reached as far as Cartagena, Colombia.

November 1524-27 Francisco Pizarro made his first voyage to the New World in November 1524. After much hardship and skirmishes with natives in Panama, he returned to Spain with empty hands. Pizarro’s second voyage (November 1526 to late 1527) was much larger, with 160 men and several horses carried in two ships.

Cathedral of Lima, Lima District, Peru

After years of preliminary exploration and military skirmishes, 168 Spanish soldiers under conquistador Francisco Pizarro, his brothers, and their indigenous allies captured the Sapa Inca Atahualpa in the 1532 Battle of Cajamarca.

The Incas customarily used gold for ornamental purposes: to adorn edifices and clothes. They also used it for religious ceremonies in the form of animal figures, masks, pectorals, anklets, bracelets, hats and bells in order to pay respect to their gods.

The Inca were fond of gold and silver and used it for ornaments and for decorating their temples and palaces, as well as for personal jewelry. Many objects were made of solid gold. As the Andes Mountains are rich in minerals, the Incans accumulated a great deal of gold and silver by the time the Spaniards arrived.

What was the use of Inca gold? They had both religious and ornamental value. Besides their value as religious ornaments, gold and silver were also used for worldly purposes, such as earrings, necklaces, bracelets and a wide variety of secular objects.

Almost overnight, Spain became very rich taking home unprecedented quantities of gold and silver. These were stolen from the Incas and the mines that the Spanish came to control. The gold was used by the Spanish monarchy to pay off its debts and also to fund its ‘religious’ wars.

Many of the proposed sites share some of the characteristics of the Atlantis story (water, catastrophic end, relevant time period), but none has been demonstrated to be a true historical Atlantis.

Paititi is a legendary Inca lost city or utopian rich land. It allegedly lies east of the Andes, hidden somewhere within the remote rainforests of southeast Peru, northern Bolivia or northwest Brazil.

Pizarro

El Dorado may not have existed, but what was clear was that there was Paititi, northeast of Cuzco, there was more gold there than in the capital of the Inca empire itself. Paititi is considered today the great archeological enigma of South America.