Cuenca Ecuador - Ingapirca Inca Fortress, daily, private

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Price from:
119.00 USD
per person

Travel from Cuenca to the Inca fortress of Ingapirca ("wall of the inca"), Ecuador’s most important remains of the Inca Empire.  The fortress is believed to be constructed 500 years ago.    

Itinerary

After breakfast,  depart by motor coach to Ingapirca, the most northern fortress-temple remaining from Inca times.  Sun-worshippers built this stone center on a promontory high above the Cañar valley, about 96 Km (60 miles) northeast of Cuenca and at an altitude of 10,595 feet (3,230 meters) above sea level.

Ride through fascinating highlands, passing through the towns of Azogues and Cañar.  Visit the mountain-bound sanctuary of Our Lady of Rocio in Biblian built on steep rock and a small hat workshop. Upon arrival at Ingapirca stop at the on-site museum, and admire the stone fortress with several trapezoidal doorways and stone walls perfectly fit together, without mortar, of the Inca construction. There is an elliptical platform, known as the Temple of the Sun used for religious and ceremonial purposes, the barracks, the stone "Inca Face" and the zoomorphic carvings.  Lunch at a pleasant inn of the area before the return to Cuenca.  Transfer to the airport for the return flight to Quito or Guayaquil.  Air ticket is not included.

Included

• Lunch
• Ground transportation and guide

Not Included

•  Air tickets

Some special Highlights

ABOUT THE INCAS
The Empire of the Incas, from its capital Cuzco, expanded in the 14th and 15th Centures to form the Tahuantinsuyo, which went from northern Chile to the north of Peru.  In 1463 the ruling Inca, Tupac Yupanqui, began moving north to conquer Ecuador.  The Inca armies met fierce resistance by the Cañaris and other local Indian groups, and it wasn't until 1500 that the Incas finally settled in what is now Cuenca and surroundings, under the rule of Huayca Capac, son of Tupac Yupanqui and a Cañari princess.  Ecuador's new lords ruled for less than half a century, until the Spanish conquest in the 1530's, but their legacy was the kichwa language, spoken by the majority of the Indian population of Ecuador, and an incredible network of roads connecting Quito with Cuzco along the higlands and Santiago de Chile and Guayaquil on the coast.  The Inca Road or “Camino del Inca” was 8 meters wide (24 feet) and paved with stone - along which the Chasqui runners would bring messages and even fresh fish from the coast to the Inca.

Information Price per Person (USD) 4 - 9 119.00 3 persons 129.00 2 persons 162.00 1 person 270.00 26 or more 79.00 16 - 25 81.00 10 - 15 85.00

Cuenca Ecuador Tours & Hotels

With the placid atmosphere of a small city, Cuenca fascinates its visitors
Ecuador's most beautiful city, Saint Anne of the Four Rivers of Cuenca, is located in the valley of Guapondelig (meaning “plain as wide as the sky”). At an altitude of 2,550 meters (7,650 feet) above sea level, Cuenca enjoys a mild climate and a fabulous geographic position. Surrounding the city of Cuenca are hills like Cullca to the north and Turi to the south, which are great lookout points. Cuenca has the placid atmosphere of a small city, both deeply religious and artistic, which fascinates the visitor. The beauty of its landscape combined with the harmony between old and modern architecture, has prompted, UNESCO to name Ecuador's third largest city, Cuenca, a World Cultural Heritage Site.

Houses stretch down the slopes along the Tomebamba, one of the four rivers that cross Cuenca, whose banks are covered with multicolored laundry under the riverside willows and linden trees. Both the Hispanic colonial downtown and the new homes in the residential neighborhoods, show how Cuenca keeps traditions of bygone eras close to its heart, but accepts the presence of modernity that abound in the city: new hotels, banks, art galleries and shops. Cuenca's cobblestone streets, graceful balconies, blossoming gardens and religious art treasures invite you to visit it, on foot and at a leisurely pace.

Cuenca's handicrafts are outstanding in variety, color and quality. These treasures, inspired by local imagination are created in straw, horn, cloth, embroidery, knit, clay, wrought iron, leather as well as gold and silver jewelry.

The region of Cuenca was already inhabited nine thousand years ago. The Cañari people settled here due to its favorable climate, abundant water and ideal land for cultivation. Extraordinary pieces of ceramic of this period, notable for their design and technique, are to be found in the museums. In the middle of the 15th century, the Incas came to this area and founded the city they called Tomebamba and a few years later, in 1557, the Spanish claimed the city and renamed it Cuenca.

Additional excursions surrounding Cuenca include the impressive Cajas lake district, the subtropical valleys of Paute, Gualaceo and Yunguilla, plus the legendary Inca ruins of Ingapirca.