On the fertile lands of the Urubamba Valley, the Incas banks the "royal haciendas" of Pisaqa, Huchuy Qosqo, Yucay, Urubamba and Ollantaytambo.

The name of the Urubamba valley changed to the Sacred Valley of the Incas in the mid nineteen sixties as this was better suited to tourism. The Vilcanota is the river that carved the valley over thousands of years and its history is linked to that of the Incas who crops and built towns all along its length. It is popularity believed that the river rises at Nudo de Vilcanota on the boundary between Cusco and Puno. Geographically, however, its source is Lake Siwinaqocha in the great Ausangate massif. It starts as an impressive river: not for nothing does Salqa mean indomitable. This joins the smaller Vilcanota on his way to Cusco. He punished an uprising of the Canchis, destroying them by the fire of the volcano Qinsachata, where an impressive temple dedicated to him was built. On the fertile land on its banks the "royal haciendas" of Pisaq, Huchuy Qosqo, Yucay, Urubamba and Ollantaytambo were established, lands which were reserved for use by the Inca rulers in historical times.

OLLANTAYTAMBO, TAMBO O TAMPU
Colonial documentation renders Ollantaytambo as Tambo, shared with other archaeological sites alongside Inca roads. Paucartambo, Tambomanchay and Paqareqtambo are some others. Thus it is shown on the list of the royal haciendas of Pachakuti who ".took for his own use the valley of Tambo." The name Ollantaytambo comes from the theatrical work Ollanta, written possibly in the 18th century, which was set in what is now Ollantaytambo. It tells the story of a victorious warrior Ollanta, punished for attempting to win the hand of Kusiqoyller, the beautiful daughter of Pachakuti.

Tambo was being built and this is shown by the stones scattered between the road from Khachiqhata, at the other side of the river, and in the village and there are sectors that have clearly not been finished.

Manco Inca rested temporarily at Tambo in 1538 after building the wall around Cusco and before entering the Antisuyo where the kingdom of Vilcabamba began, and resisted the Spanish presence for more than forty years. A portrait shows that he visited Tambo. Guaman Poma de Ayala tells that: "(.) Mango Inga ordered that a portrait be made of himself and his weapons in a great inn, by which he would be remembered (.) in the said village of Tambo (.)" (1613). He is shown full face with helmet, lance and shield. This place is known locally as Inkapintay, a few meters from the road and very close to the village of Ollantaytambo, above finely finished Inca buildings.

The village maintains its ancient street plan of narrow lanes with gullies through which runs crystal clear water from the mountains. Its inhabitants live in ancient Inca kanchas as they have for five centuries

You can see how these buildings are used from their interiors. The residents are proud of their "living Inca village".

Ollantaytambo Archaeological Park consists of a number of sectors which stimulate the imagination. It is best to enjoy and admire the architectural quality of the buildings, terraces, stairs, canals, fountains and walls, the bases of the Inca Bridge over the Vilcanota, and the great square of Manyaraki or K'uychipunku, occupies the space between the existing village and the Inca monuments.

A sensitive visitor will see the size of Ollantaytambo, the terraces rising up the slopes, dwelling that appear to be hanging over chasms, great structures made of huge stones, adobe buildings with two floors and those made of polished stone like the "Temple of ten niches" or Inkamissana which was of exceptional ideological importance. It is still unclear whether this was the magnificent residence of the most powerful of the Incas or a defense fortress. It could have been both and more.

You can visit Pumamarka. It was built by regional groups with a level of social organization. Visiting it is a challenge but affords the chance to see a site built before the rise of the Incas.

The river Vilcanota continues its journey north in a valley which narrows to become an impressive canyon whose sides contain miles of terraces rising to the mountain slopes above. The size of the areas given over to the cultivation of maize and other warm weather plants is evidence of the degree of domestic civilization achieved. The river descends from 2790 meters at Ollantaytambo to 2040 at Machupiqchu and less than 730 at its confluence with the Yanatile, which then flow on across the Amazon plain.

The Vilcanota is the guardian of the Incas "royal haciendas" especially that of Inca Yupanqui Pachakuti, builder of Machu Picchu, who remains in the memory of Cusqueños of all ages who take the roads along the Vilcanota like their ancestors of the Inkañan.