US & South America

Today we visited the ruins of Ollantaytambo, an enormous Inca complex incorporating massive terraces, temples, defensive structures, water channels and sacred fountains, storehouses and areas associated with astronomical and religious observation.

We decided to explore the site self-guided, using Google to read about each area as we went. It was really nice being able to wander around and take everything in at our own pace.

One of the most fascinating parts of Ollantaytambo's history is the Battle of Ollantaytambo in 1537, when Manco Inca's forces achieved one of the few major Inca victories over the Spanish conquistadors. As Hernando Pizarro's troops advanced towards the terraces, the Incas deliberately flooded the plain below using their network of water channels. The previously firm ground became waterlogged, severely restricting the Spanish cavalry and taking away one of their biggest advantages. From the terraces and surrounding positions, the Inca defenders bombarded the Spanish with arrows, slingstones and rocks until Pizarro eventually ordered a retreat.

Despite the victory, Manco Inca later decided that Ollantaytambo was too exposed to continued Spanish attacks and withdrew deeper into the mountains towards Vilcabamba.

We climbed the huge terraces to the ceremonial sector at the top, where we reached the Enclosure of the Ten Niches. The finely built wall contains ten trapezoidal recesses, probably used for ceremonial or religious purposes, to display sacred objects or offerings. Beside it is a partially completed monumental gateway, often referred to as the Sun Gate, leading further into the temple complex.

Beyond this are the remains of the unfinished Temple of the Sun, including the incredible Wall of the Six Monoliths. The enormous pinkish blocks are actually rose rhyolite or porphyry and were transported from the Kachiqhata quarries, roughly 4-5km away on the opposite side of the Urubamba Valley.

The logistics of getting them there are almost as impressive as the finished stonework. Inca stonemasons took advantage of naturally fractured rock and rockfalls at the quarry, using pry bars and hard hammerstones to separate, rough-shape and dress the blocks. The largest stones, some weighing tens of tonnes, then had to be moved hundreds of metres down the mountainside on specially prepared roads and ramps, hauled across the valley and Urubamba River, and dragged back uphill to the temple site.

Some of the stones still have small protruding bosses or nubs on their surfaces. These are often interpreted as handling points which could be used with ropes or wooden levers while manoeuvring the huge blocks.

The precision of the Inca masonry is also remarkable. Many of the important walls were assembled without mortar, with neighbouring stones carefully shaped to fit tightly together. The irregular, interlocking geometry, inward-leaning walls and dry joints allowed the individual stones to accommodate small movements and dissipate energy during earthquakes rather than behaving as a single rigid structure. This is one reason so much Inca masonry has survived centuries of seismic activity in the Andes.

Exactly why construction of the Sun Temple stopped is still uncertain. The political turmoil of the Inca civil war, the arrival of the Spanish and Manco Inca's eventual retreat from Ollantaytambo have all been suggested as possible explanations.

After exploring the temple we continued uphill to the Intihuatana, a name usually translated as the "place where the sun is tied". The surviving structure contains large niches and small holes cut into the stonework and is commonly interpreted as having had ritual and astronomical significance. It may have been used to observe seasonal changes in the position of the sun. This was important both for Inca ceremonies and the agricultural calendar.

We ended up continuing beyond the Intihuatana and hiking to an even higher point above the ruins, which gave us some amazing panoramic views across Ollantaytambo and the Urubamba Valley.

Back at the bottom we had one last look at the beautifully engineered sacred fountains and water channels, and said hello to the resident alpacas before heading off.Read more