Residents of a rain-forest community in Peru's southern Cusco region have uncovered the remains of an Inca citadel that was overrun by vegetation, Mayor of San Martin Valle, Rolando Zamora, said on Wednesday.

Local people stumbled onto the ancient Inca site by accident on Sept. 9 while they were shepherding grazing cattle near the area's Megantoni National Sanctuary, state daily Andina reported.

Located over a thousand kilometers southeast of Peru's capital Lima, the site has the remnants of "platforms, passages, walls and even a stone dwelling hidden among the foliage," Andina said.

According to the mayor, the remote site is a five-day trek on foot from the city of Cusco, which is why it took so long to announce the discovery.

An expedition led by provincial authorities has set out to explore the site in more detail, and should be back by the weekend, said the mayor.

Cusco, once capital of the Inca empire, is home to numerous archaeological sites, the most famous being Machu Picchu, which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983.

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