Ollantaytambo Archeological Site

Ollantaytambo, Peru, Peru

---

Ollantaytambo Archaeological Site is a large Inca complex in the town of Ollantaytambo, in the Sacred Valley of Peru, about 60–70 km northwest of Cusco.

It sits on a steep hillside above the town and features massive terraces, stone walls, temples, and water channels that show the Inca’s advanced engineering and urban planning. The site served as both a religious and military stronghold, used by the Inca leader Manco Inca to resist the Spanish conquest and block the Sacred Valley from invaders.

Key features include the enormous agricultural terraces, the Temple of the Sun with huge pink‑granite blocks some of which weigh over 50 tons, the Intihuatana stone, and the Bath of the Ñusta, a finely carved water fountain. Today the ruins are part of a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape, and Ollantaytambo’s lower town is one of the few Inca‑planned settlements still fully inhabited, with a traditional grid layout and narrow cobblestone streets leading up to the archaeological park.