The
Ingapirca Ruins
Ingapirca literally means "Inca fortress"
and is an amazing archeological site, unique in the Inca empire. 2
hours north of Cuenca, Ecuador, the Ingapirca ruins trip leads through
pristine Andes countryside, half the fun.
The archeological site itself involves two sets of ruins:
One, from the pre-Inca culture of the Caņaris. It is over 1,000 years
old and form the base for this unique double set of ruins. The Caņaris
populated Cuenca as well. Much later in year 1000, the Incas came
from Peru and conquered the area including Cuenca. But curiously,
the Incas didn't mix with the Caņaris, but instead used them as workers,
thinking they were inferior to the Incas. When the Inca pulled out
to return to Peru at the time of Spanish colonialization, the original
Caņaris remained to this day. Over these original Caņari ruins the
Incas constructed their unique ruins, including the unique East-West
oriented oval shaped Inca temple and fortress of Ingapirca.
The temple was constructed over an oval shaped rock outcrop which
was a holy place of the Caņaris. It is a somewhat mysterious and fairly
well preserved (some parts reconstructed) high altitude fortress and
holy temple made of the familiar close fitting hand hune blocks of
"greenstone" transported over many miles. There's a museum too. But
the Inca ruins are only part of it.