Ollantaytambo

Ollantaytambo (in Quechua: Ullantaytampu, "Ollanta's store or inn") is a Peruvian town and Inca archaeological site, capital of the homonymous district located in the province of Urubamba, in the department of Cuzco. It is located about 90 km northwest of the city of Cuzco.

During the Incas, Pachacútec conquered the region and built the town and a ceremonial center. At the time of the conquest it served as a fort for Manco Inca Yupanqui, leader of the Inca resistance. In Ollantaytambo there are resistance platforms (to avoid landslides), not agricultural as in the other archaeological sites of Cuzco. At present it is an important tourist attraction due to its Inca constructions and for being one of the most common starting points of the Inca trail to Machu Picchu.

Description

Ollantaytambo is a typical example of the extraordinary urban planning of the Incas.

Its cobbled and winding streets, the ruins scattered everywhere and its agricultural terraces are attractions that stand out on their own and the visitor can appreciate it in all its splendor. Among the ruins, a visit to the old fortress and the temple is recommended, where we can appreciate magnificent views of the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

Location

Manyaraqui Square.

Andenería.

Deposits.

Ollantaytambo is located on the banks of the Patakancha River, near the point where it meets the Urubamba River. It is located in the district of the same name, province of Urubamba, approximately 60 km northwest of the city of Cuzco and has an altitude of 2,792 meters above sea level.

Climate

The climate of Ollantaytambo is dry from April to December and rainy from January to March. Due to its location between two slopes, at night there is a moderate wind. The minimum temperature is from 5 °C to 11 °C and maximum from 18 °C to 23 °C throughout the year.

Average climatic parameters of Ollantaytambo
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Average temperature (°C)	14.7	14.5	14.7	14.6	13.8	12.9	12.7	13.7	14.5	15.9	15.8	14.9	14.4
Temp. medium (°C)	7.9	7.9	7.8	7	5.6	4.1	4	4.7	6.7	8	8.2	8	6.7
Source: climate-data.org

Origin of name

According to the linguist Rodolfo Cerrón-Palomino, Ollantay has Aymara origin. According to him, it would come from Ullantawi: The verbal root ulla- ('ver') deverberated by the morpheme -nta (action downwards or inwards) from the set ullanta- (see downwards, observe), which with the suffix -wi is nominalized to "instead of observation from above", that is, watchtower or viewpoint.

Subsequently, Quechua began to displace Aymara from the Cuzco area, altering the name by shortening the name without simile in the new language (Ullantawi → Ullantaw) and then change the ending /w/ into/y/ (Ullantaw → Ullantay), a constantly repeated phenomenon in this process of linguistic change.

Later, with the Inca domination, Viracocha Inca ordered the founding of a tambo in the new square conquered from the paragon of the Cuzco administration: the tambo of Ollantay or Ullantay Tampu. In the end, Ullantay was relegated to a modifier of the root tampu (pronounced as ['tam.bo] at the time of the conquest).

Some authors, such as the Cuzco historian Víctor Angles, assert without much argument that the origin of the name of Ollantaytambo dates back to the end of the 18th century, when a drama with an Inca argument was staged whose protagonist was General Ollantay, and the place where the actions took place —according to the literary work— was the tambo below Yucay, which since then began to be generalized as Ollantaytambo, however, the name is recorded in older documents, such as in the writings of the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, who after praising the greatness and magnificence of the ancient fortifications of Tanpu, tells that they were ordered to be built by the Inca Wiraqucha, like the great and ancient buildings that exist in that place.

History

According to Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, a 16th-century Spanish chronicler, the Inca emperor Pachacútec conquered and destroyed Ollantaytambo and later incorporated it into his empire. Under the rule of the Incas, the town was rebuilt with splendid buildings and the valley of the Urubamba river was irrigated and provided with platforms; the town served as a shelter for the Inca nobility while the platforms were worked by yanaconas, servants of the emperor. After the death of Pachacútec, the region passed into the custody of his panaqa , his family group.

During the conquest, Ollantaytambo functioned as a temporary capital for Manco Inca Yupanqui, leader of the Inca resistance against the Spanish conquerors. Under his rule, the town and its surroundings were heavily fortified in the direction of the former Inca capital of Cuzco, which had fallen under Spanish rule. On the Mascabamba plain, near Ollantaytambo, Manco Inca defeated a Spanish expedition, blocking its advance. from a set of platforms and flooding the plain. However, despite his victory, Manco Inca did not consider it viable to remain in Ollantaytambo so he withdrew into the thick forest of the Vilcabamba area. In 1540, the native population of Ollantaytambo was entrusted to Hernando Pizarro.

Ruins of the ancient temple of the Sun, in Ollantaytambo.

Architecture

Ollantaytambo

This is one of the most monumental architectural complexes of the ancient Inca Empire, commonly called "Fortress", due to its enormous walls, it was actually a Tambo or city-lodging, strategically located to dominate the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

The architectural type used, as well as the quality of each stone, worked individually (see image), make Ollantaytambo one of the most peculiar and surprising works of art that the ancient Peruvians made, especially the Temple of the Sun and its gigantic monoliths.

The straight, narrow and picturesque streets today form fifteen blocks of houses located to the north of the main square of the city, which constitute in themselves a true historical legacy. Some colonial-type houses are built on beautiful, finely polished Inca walls. The tones of the stone are cheerful, the color of a petrified flower, dark pink. In the main square, a large block with perfect edges fits its fifteen terrestrial star angles into a double row.

It was declared an Archaeological Park with National Directorial Resolution No. 395 of the year 2002. It has an extension of 34,800 hectares.