Ollantaytambo

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The Inca site of Ollantaytambo

Ollantaytambo is located north of Cuzco city on the near the railway line that leads up to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu Pueblo).

Here's is the northern end of what we call the "Sacred Valley of the Incas (Valle Sagrado de los Incas)". There's are no well defined coordinates, borders to exactly determine where exactly the Sacred Valley starts and ends, but experts all accept that Ollantaytambo is one of the primary archaeological hotspots in it.

You can travel to Ollantaytambo by train, directly from Cuzco. Some stop over on their way to Machu Picchu and after looking around, they continue the journey.

About Ollantaytambo's past and its present-day attractions...

The city was probably built during the reign of Inca ruler Pachacuti (approximately between 1439 and 1471 AD).

Ollantaytambo is partly located on mountain sides. When there, you will be able to admire the spectacular Inca architectural skills: still functioning aqueducts, stone blocks perfectly fit together, and you will also see many agricultural terraces on the sides of the mountains.

The site must not be missed if you're travelling from Cuzco to see Machu Picchu. You don't have to hike, you can simply stop over, admire the beauty of the place and continue the trip.

Ollantaytambo is located right where the Patacancha river flows into the Vilcanota (or Urubamba), which than flows through Aguas Calientes, in the Urubamba Valley, visible from Machu Picchu.

Pachacuti has chosen Ollantaytambo because of its strategic location.

Ollantaytambo has fortified gates, guard houses and steep slopes, solid vertical walls through which a potential attacking force could hardly get through. The city was very difficult to conquer by the well-armed and armoured conquistadores, who easily crushed the Incas in other areas of the empire.

Ollantaytambo was once attacked by the Spaniards in 1536, when it was defended by Manco Inca, successor of Atahualpa (who was previously brutally executed by Pizarro's men). The Spaniards attempted to take Ollantaytambo, but they suffered significant losses, the battle here being one of the least successful ones for the Spanish army.

The city was therefore named "Fortress of Ollantaytambo" by the Spaniards. Indeed, it's rather a stronghold then a simple city. Even the agricultural terraces act as defensive walls.

When in Ollantaytambo, you'll be astonished by the steep hills, the perfectly cut rocks, many terraces that cover the mountain sides. The Incas have built their structures around the mountain, respecting its original shape.

You will also see functioning aqueducts and reddish rocks, which were cut from rhyolite.  

Ollantaytambo's purpose

It had multiple purposes: agricultural, residential, religious, military, administrative.

It was one of the biggest Inca cities that the Spaniards have ever discovered.

The strategic location of Ollantaytambo must have been carefully chosen. It is ideal for administering the area around it, it has good views, located high on mountain sides, therefore being a good place to defend against incoming threats.

Unlike Cuzco, which is a city located under the surrounding mountains, deep below, Ollantaytambo has the appearance of a stronghold.

Agriculturally, it is also one of the most important places in the Andes. The light of the sun is perfect on the sides of these mountains and the agricultural terraces are solidly built. The Incas also gave importance to the different types of soil used to fill the terraces, in order to irrigate them as well as possible and drain the water surplus as well.

One has to look at Ollantaytambo as a city that has just about everything in and around it.   

The city served as an important military center, defending the north entrance into the Sacred Valley. This way, any threat that could come from the direction of Machu Picchu could have been countered.

A legend that inspired the Quechua Apu-Ollanta drama, speaks about this city that belonged to a powerful Inca lord who fell in love with Pachacuti's daughter, Princess Cusi Coillor. Specialists say Ollantaytambo was built by the great ruler Pachacuti.

The architectural attractions and the districts of Ollantaytambo

The city has 2 main parts. A southern and a northern one.
Architecturally, you'll notice major differences between the 2 parts of Ollantaytambo.

Specialists believe that the Incas usually split their cities into half: an upper and a lower sector. You will also notice this in Machu Picchu.

Ollantaytambo also has sort-of suburban area, a bit further from the 2 sectors of the main part. This 3rd part of the city, called Arajama is located just across the Patacancha river.

About 3 km from the city you can visit a rock quarry, called Cachicata. It is presumed that the Inca workers extracted the materials here and then transported them to the construction site, where Ollantaytambo was to be built. Interestingly, many of the carved rocks still lie on the ground, scattered. The Incas haven't finished the construction for an unknown reason. This also reflects in some of the buildings within the city.

Within the city, you will find buildings with 2-3 floors and with wooden framework. Most Inca buildings were single-floor ones.

Colcas were warehouses (similar to those in Machu Picchu) that were used by the Inca inhabitants to store grain, potatoes, etc.

Tambos were those places where food was stored and were located along roads, serving those who travelled through. Other similar ones were (possibly) Runcuracay (the "Egg Hut"), which is along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and another one is Tambomachay (quite close to Cuzco city).

It was due having many colcas and to its "tambo function" that Ollantaytambo got its name.

There is an agricultural sector and an urban sector. As we know from the layout of Machu Picchu and Inca cities in general, these were the 2 main parts of the large important Inca settlements.

Below, we take a deeper look at the city itself.   

Ollantaytambo, the city itself has an Popular and a Sacred District. Most probably the higher-class Incas lived in the latter one, while the "ordinary" people lived in the lower parts of the city. Specialists still debate where the limits of the different districts are. The Sacred District itself is considered to have 3 "sub-districts" or sectors.

There is a main square, called Plaza de Armas, surrounded by a variety of buildings. This is an open space area, which is often seen in Inca fortresses, cities and is called "pata".

This main square is located between the 2 sectors.

The Popular District 

You'll have to go through it in order to reach the higher levels, where the Sacred District is.

The Popular District is the place where most Incas lived, its buildings are less complex, mostly smaller than those located in the higher part of the city.

"Ordinary" people (meaning: the working class, peasants, etc) must have lived here. Homes and warehouses are located here, narrow streets and interestingly even gardens near the houses.  

This part of Ollantaytambo is protected by an immense wall, about 3 m high and 1,5 m wide.

You might find it interesting that many of the houses within the complex were built using adobe bricks (hardened mud). This is an interesting technology used in many parts of the World, also in eastern Europe and Asia. 

You will also see clay-covered walls and yellowish-coloured mortar-joined bricks.

The Sacred District

The Sacred District is often referred to as the "Fortress of Ollantaytambo". Some call it the "Temple Hill".

This part of the city also has a significant number of terraces, incredibly well preserved, eve today, their walls are mostly intact, covering the steep hills.

When in this part of the city, you will find multiple temples and objects made out of stone for religious purposes. The "Temple of the Sun" is the central building in the Sacred District. Unfortunately, this structure is partly destroyed, almost certainly the Spaniards had a role in this. Inca religion was despised, therefore Pizarro's men instigated by the fanaticism of certain Catholic priests, put a lot of effort into destroying non-Christian religious buildings and ceremonial objects (like the Intihuatanas).

Walk thought the streets and walk up the 2 main stairways and you'll find that the Incas haven't finished building all of their structures. Either they were interrupted by the Spanish conquest or they hadn't had the time or resources to bring the work till the end.

The Arajama, just across the Patacancha river

This part of the city is on the other side of the river Patacancha, an affluent of the Urubamba river.

Manco Inca, the last Inca Emperor is said to have built this part, mainly for defensive purposes, after fleeing from the Spaniards who already dominated the southern parts of the Sacred Valley.

Mysteries and unique values of Ollantaytambo

The place is more than "just an ordinary city". Many ignore Ollantaytambo, being attracted by more renowned attractions, especially Machu Picchu. But, Ollantaytambo has many things that Machu Picchu doesn't.

For example: Ollantaytambo bears the marks of pre-Inca cultures, also has older Inca ruins upon which newer buildings were built (still Inca though).

What makes Ollantaytambo even more unique and attractive is that it reflects multiple construction techniques. Many types of rocks were used. You can simply notice this by looking at the colour of the stone blocks. Also, mortar was used to join the bricks together, in the case of some buildings (in Machu Picchu, no such thing was ever used, all the rocks are put together like puzzles without being "glued").

Coricancha remnants

In the 1930s, archaeologists have come across greenish stones in the ground, under some structures of Ollantaytambo.

It is believed that there was an older temple, a Coricancha (similar purpose to Coricancha in Cuzco).

Pre-Inca remnants

Animal-shapes are found on stones used to build the structures, these are not of Inca origin.

Undoubtedly the site was previously inhabited by multiple cultures who have gone extinct, some probably conquered by the Incas, who have used the components of their buildings to create new ones for themselves (and the Spaniards did similarly, when using Inca stone blocks to build Catholic churches and houses, especially in Cuzco).

Links to the Tiahuanaco culture    

If you visit the sites of Tiahuanaco in Bolivia and the "Temple of the Sun" within Ollantaytambo, then you will find similarities. The latter one has a big wall, made up of 6 reddish stone blocks, which have smaller rocks stuck between them. The Ollantaytambo "Temple of the Sun" bears a water and fertility-related symbol of the Tiahuanaco culture.

Visiting Ollantaytambo

It is located 40 km from Cuzco in a straight line and 80-90 km on road or by train.

The height from sea level is 2.792 m. Interestingly, higher than Machu Picchu.

It's one of the least remote Inca sites, also one of the most impressive ones. Don't miss Ollantaytambo, if travelling to Machu Picchu! Simply take the train from Cuzco and stop at this marvelous complex of ancient Inca ruins.