Juan Arias Díaz, also known as Juan Arias Diaz Topete, was a Spanish explorer and mineral prospector. He is credited with being the first European to visit the

Incan The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

city of

Choquequirao Choquequirao (possibly from Quechua ''chuqi'' metal, ''k'iraw'' crib, cot) is an Incan site in southern Peru, similar in structure and architecture to Machu Picchu. The ruins are buildings and terraces at levels above and below Sunch'u Pa ...

, which he visited in 1710. However, it has been proposed that Spanish

conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

arrived first during their war against

Manco Inca Manco Inca Yupanqui ( 1515 – c. 1544) (''Manqu Inka Yupanki'' in Quechua) was the founder and monarch (Sapa Inca) of the independent Neo-Inca State in Vilcabamba, although he was originally a puppet Inca Emperor installed by the Spaniards. ...

. He allegedly found the city when he was resting his mules after a prospecting trek. He described it as "an ancient town of heathen times" known to the natives as "The Cradle of Gold". He led three expeditions to the town, finding at total of four sites, the three others of which have not been identified. His records of Choquequirao inspired American explorer

Hiram Bingham III Hiram Bingham III (November 19, 1875 – June 6, 1956) was an American academic, explorer and politician. He made public the existence of the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in 1911 with the guidance of local indigenous farmers. Later, Bingham s ...

to search for the city.

References

Inca Empire Spanish conquistadors Year of birth missing (living people) {{explorer-stub Gold prospectors Peru articles needing attention History of Peru