Cuenca - Ingapirca

Ingapirca.


Near Cuenca, there is a Pre-Inca ruin called Ingapirca, which is the most important Inca ruin in Ecuador. Built in the 15th Century, Ingapirca means Walled City in Quecha.

From the bus station of Cuenca, there are buses running to Ingapirca every day at 9am and 1pm from Monday to Friday, and the bus fare is 2.5USD.

Orginally, the Ingapirca was linked with Machu Picchu in Peru with an Inca Trail, people could walk between in 28days. But after Spain's conquest, and the development of cities in between, the footprints of the Trail had been lost.

Actually, this ruin was built before the Inca's conquest by the Canar people, who worship the moon, which is in contrast to the Inca, who worship the sun. So many parts of the ruins built by the Canar was demolished by the Inca's people and built the temple for the sun instead.

Ingapirca is situated near a small town Canar.

The whole site is similar to the shape of a Puma, with the temple at the left symbolic the head of the Puma.

A closer look of the temple.

Inside of the temple.




Our guide was explaining how the Canar's people use this rock to calcuate the date of a month by moon.

Comparing with Machu Picchu, the size of Ingapirca is just like Hong Kong comparing with China. Though the ruin here was not so impressive, I like the quietness of here a lot.

Villagers living near the Ingapirca.

Cara del Inca, means face of the Inca, an interesting natural formation of rock near the ruin.