Ollantaytambo: A Living Inca Town
Ollantaytambo is a town and archaeological site in the Sacred Valley of the Urubamba, located approximately 60 kilometers northwest of Cusco and 30 kilometers southeast of Machu Picchu, in the eastern Andes of Peru. The site consists of a fortified and ceremonial complex on a steep ridge above the valley floor, a sequence of agricultural terraces, and a lower town that retains its original Inca street plan and has been continuously inhabited since the imperial period. Ollantaytambo was a royal estate of the ninth Sapa Inca, Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, and is one of the most important and best-preserved Inca sites in the Cusco region. The site is also famous as the location of a battle in 1537, in which the Inca general Manco Inca defeated a Spanish force under Juan Pizarro, and the lower town is recognized as a National Historic Landmark of Peru.
The town and the lower urban sector
The lower town of Ollantaytambo is laid out on a rectangular grid of four longitudinal streets, running roughly east–west, and seven cross streets, with rectangular residential blocks on either side of each street. The grid is preserved in the modern town, with the original Inca walls still visible in the foundations of many of the houses, and the principal streets still following the lines laid out in the imperial period. The grid is a unique survival of the imperial Inca urban plan and is the most complete example of an Inca town layout anywhere in the empire.
The houses of the lower town were built of polygonal andesite blocks, with stone-lined canals running along the streets to bring water from a series of fountains fed by the Patakancha River. The canals are still in use, and water flows through the central streets of the lower town in much the same way as it did in the imperial period. The houses are of one or two stories, with stone walls and thatched roofs, and many of the modern buildings incorporate the original Inca foundations.
The lower town is bounded on the north and west by a sequence of defensive walls, and on the south by the Patakancha River. The defensive walls are built of large polygonal blocks and are pierced by several gateways, the most important of which is the Tiobamba gate on the eastern side of the town. The defensive walls were extended and improved in the early colonial period and again in the modern period, and the lower town is now surrounded by a continuous line of fortification.
The ceremonial and residential sector
The upper ceremonial sector of Ollantaytambo occupies a steep ridge above the lower town and is reached by a long flight of stone steps that climbs the hillside. The ridge is divided into a number of terraces, each of which carries buildings of varying size and function. The principal buildings include the Sun Temple, the unfinished ceremonial buildings on the ñusta hill, a sequence of storehouses, and a number of residential and administrative structures. The site is built of polygonal andesite blocks, with the same technical features as the imperial buildings of Cusco and Machu Picchu.
The principal religious building of the site is the Sun Temple, on the upper terrace of the western flank of the ridge. The temple is built of six enormous polygonal pink granite blocks, each estimated to weigh approximately 50 tons, set on top of a polygonal terrace. The six blocks are arranged in a row, with carved features on their inner faces, and the entire structure is interpreted as a representation of the Inca cult of the sun. The blocks were quarried from the mountainside above the site, at a quarry known as Cachicata, and were dragged several kilometers to their final position by a labor force of several thousand workers.
The transport of the six monoliths of the Sun Temple is one of the most remarkable technical achievements of Inca engineering. The blocks were detached from the quarry by the “fire and water” method, dragged on log rollers down the mountainside, and hauled up the slope of the ridge by a system of ramps, levers, and human labor. The construction of the upper terrace was apparently abandoned before the complex was completed, and the unfinished state of the buildings has allowed modern archaeologists to study the construction process in detail. The principal reason for the abandonment is not clear, but it is generally dated to the civil war of 1529–1532 or to the Spanish conquest of 1532.
The agricultural terraces
The agricultural terraces of Ollantaytambo are built on the slopes of the valley floor, on both sides of the lower town, and are among the most extensive in the Sacred Valley. The terraces are constructed in the standard imperial form, with a polygonal retaining wall, a layer of large stones for drainage, a layer of q’illpa (volcanic or glacial material) to retain moisture, and a top layer of cultivated soil. The terraces are still in use, producing maize, potatoes, quinoa, and a range of other crops, and the system of irrigation that supports them is one of the most complete in the region.
The terraces are integrated with a sophisticated system of irrigation canals that bring water from the Patakancha River to the agricultural land. The canals are stone-lined and cut into the bedrock, with a series of small drops and channels that distribute the water across the terraces. The system is described in detail in the work of Kenneth Wright and his team, who studied the hydraulic infrastructure of Ollantaytambo as part of their broader study of Inca water management in the Cusco region.
The battle of 1537
Ollantaytambo is famous as the site of a battle fought on 23 January 1537 between the Inca forces of Manco Inca and a Spanish force under the command of Juan Pizarro. Manco Inca, who had been crowned at Cusco by the Spanish in 1533 but had rebelled in 1535, had occupied the fortress of Ollantaytambo and used it as a base for attacks on the Spanish in the Sacred Valley. The Spanish response was a punitive expedition that included a force of approximately 100 Spanish cavalry and several thousand indigenous auxiliaries, supported by small cannon and by a force of Inca nobles who remained loyal to the Spanish crown.
The battle was fought on the terraces below the Sun Temple. The Spanish cavalry attempted to advance up the terraces, but the Inca forces, positioned on the upper terraces and behind stone walls, were able to channel the Spanish into a narrow front and to repulse the assault with a hail of projectiles. The Spanish forces suffered heavy losses, including the capture of several horses, and were forced to retreat to the lower town. The victory was not decisive, and Manco Inca eventually withdrew to the jungle stronghold of Vilcabamba, but the engagement demonstrated the continued military effectiveness of the Inca army and the strength of the Ollantaytambo fortifications.