OLLANTAYTAMBO

OLLANTAYTAMBO

The temple-fortress of Ollantaytambo is located some 30 miles outside Cuzco and is built on the hillside above the modern-day village of Ollantaytambo. The huge, steep terraces that form the outer defences of the fortress successfully repelled a Spanish attack in 1536.

Manco Inca had equipped the fortress with jungle archers from the nearby Amazon basin and the conquistadors suffered terribly from these archers and from the large quantities of boulders that were continually hurled down the hillside at them. The natives also diverted the nearby Patacancha river to flood the plain, soon causing the cavalry to be wallowing in mud up to the horses waists. The Spaniards retreated rapidly to Cuzco, pursued aggressively by the emboldened natives.