Vilcabamba (Willkapampa)

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The "Last Stronghold of the Incas"

There are several Vilcabambas in South America, that must not be confused.

One of them is the Vilcabamba Valley in Southeastern Ecuador, where a city with the same name was founded by Luis Fernando de la Vega on September 1st, 1756, this place is 42 kms from the city of Loja.

The other 2 Vilcabambas are in Peru. One of them is the Vilcabamba Valley and the other one is a ruined city in it.

This article is about the ruins called Vilcabamba, which were founded by the Inca ruler, Manco Inca, in 1539 and was the last refuge of the Incas until it was destroyed by Spanish soldiers and the locals brutally murdered.

In Quechuan, Vilcabamba means "Sacred Valley". Actually the word is comprised of 2 words: "huilco" and "bamba". "Huilco" meaning sacred or god and "bamba" meaning valley. It can be translated to English as "Sacred Valley" or "Valley Of God". Even though, Vilcabamba is not what we call today the "Sacred Valley of the Incas"!

Vilcabamba is west of Machu Picchu, a remote jungle-covered valley, where few tourists travel.

What we call "Sacred Valley" today is the area Southeast of Machu Picchu, where Cuzco, Ollantaytambo, Písac and other ruins are located. The place is roaming with foreign tourists.

The valley Vilcabamba is crossed by the river with the same name. And, today you will find 2 places around where the city once stood: Vilcabamba Viejo (Espíritu Pampa) and Vilcabamba Nuevo (San Francisco). Espíritu Pampa is considered to be located where the historical Vilcabamba once stood. Although, the city is not easily detectable, only a few rocks, some walls have remained of it.

Vilcabamba is often named the "Last Refuge of the Incas" or the "Last Stronghold of the Incas". It was indeed, the last well-defended complex of buildings where the Incas retreated from the Spaniards.

The Vilcabamba Inca city is the subject of many tales, myths about hidden treasures.

Constructed in 1539, the city was crushed by the Spanish army only in 1572, signalling the end of the Inca resistance to Spanish rule. At that time, the Inca ruler was Túpac Amaru. He was caught and killed by the conquistadores.

Inca ruler Manco Cápac II. (founder of Vilcabamba) has tried to resist the conquistadores by raising over 100.000 troops, but the Incas soon found themselves on the run through the valleys towards the deep Amazonian jungle, where they could not fight the invaders.

The Spaniards have reached the stronghold of Vilcabamba and destroyed it with ease. The city was burned and soon the location was forgotten for centuries. Today, not much can be seen at where Vilcabamba once stood, except a few rocks.

The ruins of the city were discovered by Hiram Bingham, who found them in 1911 when searching for another lost city, called Vitcos.

The discovery took place in a remote forest area, about 130 kms Northwest of Cuzco.

Hiram Bingham believed that Machu Picchu was the "Lost City of the Incas" and that Vilcabamba had no major significance. Bingham gave more importance to the ruins of Machu Picchu, therefore he did not spend much time and effort in exploring Vilcabamba. Bingham has failed to notice the significance of Vilcabamba. The location was explored later by Antonio Santander and Gene Savoy in 1960s and later by Vincent Lee and John Hemming.

Today, we know of 12 different sites, a total of about 100 buildings in the Vilcabamba region. These are all late Inca structures, built at the time of resistance against the Spanish attacks.