Ingapirca is the ruins of an ancient Inca settlement, located on the top of a high hill in the Southern Andes of Ecuador, 90 km north of the large city of Cuenca. In translation from Quechua "Ingapirka" means "Fortress of the Incas". Ingapirca is one of the largest Inca settlements in Ecuador. Before the arrival of the Incas, the Canyari Indians lived in this territory. The Incas came here only in the 14-15th centuries. The fight for Ingapirka lasted for several years. In the end, the Canyari surrendered, the Incas took by cunning. It is surprising that after fierce bloody battles, the victors allowed the Canyari to continue to live in these lands. After the Spanish conquered the Inca empire, Ingapirca was plundered. The city stood abandoned until the government of Ecuador began the process of rebuilding it in the middle of the 20th century.
Thanks to this timely intervention, Ingapirca is today the most important archaeological site and one of the main tourist attractions in Ecuador. Despite the fact that mainly the ruins of the once majestic city have survived to this day, the Ingapirki complex occupies as much as 240 square kilometers. Basically, the remains of the "branded" Inca masonry have survived to this day, outlining the contours of residential buildings, food warehouses, as well as various premises in which religious ceremonies and even the ruins of an ancient Indian cemetery, nestled in the middle of the impregnable Andes, were held.
Promotional video:
Among the ruins, the main attention is drawn to the Temple of the Sun - a majestic structure of a regular elliptical shape. The temple is located in such a way that during the spring and autumn solstices, at certain times of the day, sunlight falls directly into the center of the main door.
A distinctive feature of the buildings erected by the Incas is the masonry without the use of bonding mortar. The stones were processed and adjusted to each other so precisely that it was impossible to put even a knife blade between them.
Every corner in Ingapirka reminds of the fusion of two cultures - the Canyari and the Incas.
The ruins have been open to the public since 1966.