Statue of Viracocha (Sun God, creator)
View of archaeological site from the town.
Ingapirca (Kichwa: Inkapirka, "Inca wall") is a town in Caņar Province, Ecuador and the name of an Incan ruin site just outside the town itself.
Chronology of Ingapirca
Museum
View of the site from the entrance.
The ruins are the largest Incan ruins in Ecuador.
The most significant building is the temple of the sun, an elliptical shaped building constructed around a large rock. The building is constructed in the Incan way without mortar. The stones were simply 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.
Hut. Originally, Ingapirca was constructed as an inn for Incan couriers and other travellers, later fortified under the control of the Caņaris of Huayna Capac, later being expanded and used as a lodge for troops, a resting place for the emperor and a temple, build in the style of Coricancha, the main temple of Cuzco. The ruins of Ingapirca, an ellipse-shaped fortress made of green diorite, is still appreciated with great pleasure and by the whole world today, as it was 500 years ago.
Huanca Canari, Tumba Canari
Walking on the pyramid of the moon complex.
Gran Concha
Susie and guide
Palacios Exteriores
Holes in rocks indicate a lunar calendar
Wall of Temple of the Sun.
Unfortunately, after the domination of the Spaniards, Ingapirca was dismantled. The rocks from the walls were stolen and used to construct neighboring Spanish settlements. Despite this deconstruction, there were some constructions which were preserved in the surroundings where the temple once stood.
Dinteles y Sillares
Acllahuasi
Susie walking beside the ancient Inca wall.
Niches in temple interior.
Other side of the temple interior
Room for high priest.
Even though they don't have the colossal dimensions of Cuzco, Ingapirca is, however, a direct testimony of how the Incas lived, their mechanisms of defense and integration of other ancient Incan constructions.
Field trip for school children.
View of area around the site.
Susie's Peruvian hat.
Merchandise & souvenirs.
Posing with Ingapirca in the background.
Entrance sign to Ingapirca.
Inti Raymi festival, spring equinox.
Indigenous people.