Archaeologists in Peru have discovered the ruins of an ancient temple, with roadways and irrigation systems at a famed fortress overlooking the Inca capital of Cuzco.

The temple lies about one mile from the zigzagging walls of the Sacsayhuaman fortress, alongside an enormous rock formation believed to be one of the fortress' burial mounds.

Oscar Rodriguez Limachi is a leading archaeologist from National Cultural Institute of Cuzco.

"We came across an interesting temple that had been buried for 500 years. The temple's architecture shows its ceremonial purpose and has 11 rooms in the shape of Chacana, the circle like shape, which presumably housed minor and major gods as well as mummies of ancestors."

Archaeologists that made the discoveries said the structures predated the Inca Empire and were then significantly developed and expanded.

Still waiting for carbon dating tests, they said their calculations about the site's age are supported by historical references such as ceramics and construction style.