Ollantaytambo is one of the most puzzling places in Peru. The location is claimed to belong to the Incas and it is located at 2,792 meters above the sea level. It is hard to imagine that the Incan civilisation could have created such an area with such limited technology access.
Ollantaytambo, Emperor Pachacuti’s royal domain during the Inca Empire was the ruler of the region. He conquered it and built the town and the ceremonial centre within.
It is a strategically located, outstanding building.
This area is known now as the Sacred Valley of the Incas, and is a popular tourist spot. We’ve been discussing this topic on our channel numerous times. How can a civilisation create such remarkable architecture at such an early age in history?
Additionally, we are curious as to why these sites were constructed and for what purpose. Many of the Peruvian ruins, especially Ollantaytambo’s, raise the question: If the massive staircases that run up the hills were meant for humans, then why did they build them on such large scales?
According to history, Pachacuti, an Incan monarch, “conquered Ollantaytambo’ and the surrounding areas around the middle-15th century. All of this was put into his personal estate.
The emperor claimed to have rebuilt the town using opulent structures as well as extensive terracing the Urubamba Valley and carefully irrigating it. These procedures were not known to the emperor.
Ollantaytambo’s main village is orthogonal. It has four streets that run parallel to each other and seven streets that cross them. A large plaza is located in the middle of the grid. It’s open to the East and is bordered by halls on three sides and other town blocks. The north portion of the city is more eclectic in its architectural style.
It’s interesting to note that the original blueprints are difficult to find due the amount of erosion that has taken place over the years. This could be a sign of its age. Are these ledge steps once accessible to giants? Maybe it had a function similar to that of the ancient Morray?
Morray, another amazing site thought to be Incan, served an equally mind-blowing function.
The architects of this huge building are horticulturists. They discovered that by creating raised ledges that are aligned with the seasonal winds and sunlight, they could gradually adapt plants that had been unsuitable to this climate for many generations.
This may be why Ollantaytambo is built. Moray is not widely known in academia. Its existence and function are hard to explain with modern paradigms. Even though we are not convinced that these sites were less amazing than they were in the past,
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