The southern sierra of Ecuador is a green and fertile landscape. The Andes becomes flatter in this region and the peaks of the volcanoes are free from snow. Ingapirca is the most important monument of Incan culture in Ecuador and a location with a long and dramatic past.

Little is known of the origin of the Incas, only that they conquered all of the most esteemed cultures of that time in Peru, Chile and Ecuador. The realm was strictly organized and had a hierarchical social system and the most revered deity that was worshipped, was the sun.

Where today lamas peacefully graze, there were once storage buildings, baths and soldiers’ dwellings. Today, only ruins remain. It is said that when the Spaniards arrived, the Incas destroyed the complex and covered it with earth.

Typical of Incan architecture are the almost seemless walls of the buildings of which the stones were laid without the use of mortar. The trapeziform entrances that survived various earthquakes, and indeed the accuracy of Incan astronomy, highlight their advanced knowledge.

Today, Ingapirca is a fine monument to its former glory.