Ollantaytambo

Ollantaytambo was one of the Inca fortresses of vigilance in the Inca period. The city served as an important checkpoint. According to the Inca laws, these lands were reserved for the dynasty of Inca rulers.

What does Ollantaytambo mean?

• According to various studies, Ollantaytambo is a word of Aymara origin (language of the Peruvian high plateau) that would mean “place of observation from below”.
• In Ollantaytambo, culture and history are deeply combined, producing the admiration of the people who visit it.
• On your trip to Machu Picchu, you will see many green landscapes along with archaeological centers of the Incas, as well as the settlements of the ancient Incas.
• According to oral tradition, Ollantaytambo owes its name to the Inca drama ‘Ollantay’, which featured the Inca general ‘Ollanta’.

When was Ollantaytambo founded?

• In the middle of the 15th century, Emperor Pachacutec destroyed the town that settled there to found Ollantaytambo and incorporate it into the Inca Empire.
• The Inca Pachacutec ordered the construction of the main buildings for the Incas in Ollantaytambo.
• Pachacutec is known as the Inca builder. Under his orders, the ruling Inca ordered the construction of the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu.
• In the year, the town of Ollantaytambo keeps alive the urban organization as well as many ancient Inca complexes.

What is the historical importance of Ollantaytambo?

• Ollantaytambo was an important religious, agricultural and military center. Built on its location, it was strategically constructed to put it on defense for the Spanish conquistadors.
• In 1537 the Spanish conquistadors faced off with the last Incas who resisted the European invasion in Ollantaytambo.
• The resistance of Manco Inca could not stop the Spanish attack reason why they had to flee towards the city of Vilcabamba, in the jungle of Cusco.
• The city was in the hands of the invaders and being an ‘encomienda’ at the hands of Hernando Pizarro.

How is the archaeological site of Ollantaytambo?

• Ollantaytambo is located at the top of a mountain, where you can see the whole town around it and also the entire Sacred Valley of the Incas.
• Ollantaytambo has some of the best construction work done by the Incas such as the Temple of the Sun.
• It was believed that the city of Ollantaytambo was a kind of fortress to defend the entrance to the citadel of Machu Picchu. Also, the construction was used as a resting place for the current Inca and his family.

What is the town of Ollantaytambo like?

• The town of Ollantaytambo retains its Inca urban layout very well organized with a polygonal design.
• The south side of the town of Ollantaytambo shows a higher quality construction.

What places to visit in Ollantaytambo?

• The most outstanding buildings in the town of Ollantaytambo are the Temple of the Sun, as well as its irrigation system.
• In the mountain of Ollantaytambo there is a construction called Colcas.