Exploring Ingapirca

Hi Blog!  These are the highlights from our trip on December 30, 2013, to the Inca ruins in Ingapirca (in Kichwa language: Inkapirka or "Inca wall").  Ingapirca is a town in Cañar Province of Ecuador, and the name of an Incan archeological site just outside the town. The town was named after the Inca palace and temple site.  These are the largest known Inca ruins in Ecuador.  If you had a few months, you could hike the Inca Trail from here south to Machu Picchu in Peru.

They say that adventure happens when your plans go awry.  Well, we should have known the day would be filled with adventure when our English speaking guide arrived and he only spoke Spanish. After several phones calls and a very generous offer to split his guide fee with an English speaking friend, we soon found ourselves (Dave, Kathy, Katie, Megan, Matt, Weina and William) piled into a mini-van complete with a driver, Spanish speaking guide and English speaking guide.

On our way to Ingapirca we made a stop in the small town of Biblián (population 20,700).  Biblián is best know for the Santurario de la Virgen del Rocio ("Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Rock").

This church is built right into the side of the mountain.  While the van drove us most of the way up, we did have to get out and walk part of the way.  Here, Matt stops to enjoy the view of the valley below.

There are a ton of Catholic churches in Ecuador.  The city of Cuenca alone has 52 of them.  However, this church is probably the most unique of all.  Inside, the pillars of the altar seem to spring right from the bedrock of the mountain.  This was well worth the side trip and probably something we never would have found on our own had we not chosen to hire a guide.

Back on the road, our guide told us that the Incas were not the first inhabitants of Ingapirca. It had long been settled by the Cañari indigenous people, who called it Hatun Cañar.  The Inca leader, Túpac Yupanqui, during the expansion campaigns of the Inca-Empire through south Ecuador met the Cañari "Hatun Cañar" tribe and had difficulties in conquering them. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. In a second attempt, political strategy led him to marry a Cañari princess.  Inca and Cañari settled their differences and live together peacefully, and an astronomical observatory at Ingapirca was built under Inca Huayna Capac. They renamed the city and kept most of their individual customs separate. Although the Inca were more numerous, they did not demand that the Cañari give up their autonomy.

The most significant building in Ingapirca is the temple of the sun, an elliptically shaped building constructed around a large rock. The building is constructed in the Inca way without mortar in most of the complex. The stones were carefully chiseled and fashioned to fit together perfectly. The temple of the sun was positioned so that on the solstices, at exactly the right time of day, sunlight would fall through the center of the doorway of the small chamber at the top of the temple. Most of this chamber has fallen down.

William found all of this way too exciting and fell asleep.  He remained in his stroller for the first part of the tour of the ruins which is why he is not in the photo of all of us below.

He didn't nap long and was eager to get out and explore.  Here he is examining the grinding stones the Inca and Cañari used to grind corn into flour.

Here our guide Miguel points out the finer points of Inca stone work.

Katie and Megan take a moment to reflect on thousands of years of history.  Note the perfect symmetry of the building blocks they lean their foreheads on.

After that moment of quiet contemplation,  all seriousness is quickly put aside as Katie and William find a little nook in which to play hide and seek.

Being this high up, you can certainly understand why the Inca and Cañari loved the sun and the stars. They are so close!  You truly feel like you are on top of the world.

We finished our tour with lunch at a nearby hacienda where we sampled local delicacies - yucca, potato and peanut soup, lamb stew, rice and lima beans.  After such a hearty meal at such a high altitude, we soon found ourselves fast asleep on the ride back to Cuenca.  And, so ends another adventure.