Stories: Luxury Travel Peru

Ollantaytambo (2,800 meters, or 9,200 feet above sea level) is the name given both to the Inca ruin complex sculpted into the cliff side at the northern end of the Sacred Valley and to the town founded by the Incas. A private Ollantaytabmo tour can be arranged as part of a longer visit to the Sacred Valley, combined with other Incan sites of interest including Pisac, Chinchero and Moray. Ollantaytambo: A highlight of the Sacred Valley  The town of Ollantaytambo is the best surviving example of Inca city planning. The original layout and structure, including canals, are still used by the town's inhabitants. The Incas divided the village into blocks called canchas, each with just one entrance leading into a courtyard. Residents entered their individual houses from the courtyard, rather than from the street. A collection of British charities financed the small Ethnographic Museum in town, opened in December 1997, that highlights the ancient customs and traditions of the peoples of this part of the Andes. There are displays of tools and garments of present-day indigenous populations in the highlands. The Incan Ruins of Ollantaytambo But the true highlight of an Ollantaytambo tour is visiting its ruins. The expansive, steep terraces guarding the Inca fortress are a sight to behold. The Incas likely saw Ollantaytambo as a temple rather than a military stronghold, but the Spanish conquistadors called it a fortress and it has been referred to as such ever since. Some of its walls were under construction at the time of the conquest and have never been completed. The stone used for these buildings was quarried from the mountainside 6 kilometers (4 miles) away high above the opposite bank of the Urubamba River. Transporting the huge stone blocks from the quarry to the site was a stupendous feat, employing thousands of native workers. Incan Battle Victory The complex is also a site of