Ancient hidden Inca tunnels discovered in Peru

The ancient Sacsayhuaman fortress where archeologists say the tunnels run to

Archeologists have confirmed the existence of ancient tunnels which run under the famous city of Cusco in Peru.

Cusco which is a UNESCO world heritage site is formerly the capital of the Inca empire.

It is also the main access point for the famous ruins of Maccu Picchu that millions of people visit each year.

Now experts have found over a mile of a network of underground tunnels which are believed to have been built by the Incas.

The search for the tunnels has taken twenty years after historical documents from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries mentioned them.

The Association of Archeologists of Peru say the chincana - which means labyrinth or place where one gets lost in Quechua, the language of the Incas - runs from the Temple of the Sun to the ancient Sacsayhuaman fortress, about a mile away.

An account by a Spanish priest in 1594 stated that a tunnel began at the temple and travelled under the bishop's house behind Cusco Cathedral, ending at Sacsayhuaman.

The tunnels run under the city of Cusco

Researchers used sound testing and a radar to find the tunnels.

This also revealed that the tunnels are likely to be built with stone walls, with carved supporting beams.

Archaeologists Jorge Calero and Mildred Fernandez told a press conference that three further branches of the tunnels were found.

The discovery reinforces a theory that the Incas used tunnels as a system of communication in the city.