During the Spanish foundation of Cusco, Francisco Pizarro established the first council and appointed Beltrán de Castro and Captain Pedro de Candia as mayors, handing each of them their respective varas of justice, along with the aldermen.

Since then, the Cabildo del Cusco became the local governing body of the city and the surrounding area.

[1] After the end of the colonial period, the new republic decided that its local organization would depend on the structure established during the viceroyalty, using intendancies to form the new departments of Peru.

Thus, the Intendancy of Cuzco led to the current Department of Cusco, and the old districts gave rise to the contemporary provinces.

Until then, the position was directly appointed by the government and had much less importance than the figure of the Prefect of Cusco, who represented the executive power in the department.