![Sacred Valley of the Incas, March 2012](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Sacred_Valley_of_the_Incas%2C_March_2012.jpg)
The Sacred Valley of the Incas ( es, Valle Sagrado de los Incas; qu, Willka Qhichwa), or the Urubamba Valley, is a valley in the
Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
of
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
, north of the
Inca
The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...
capital of
Cusco. It is located in the present-day Peruvian region of Cusco. In colonial documents it was referred to as the "Valley of
Yucay." The Sacred Valley was incorporated slowly into the incipient Inca Empire during the period from 1000 to 1400 CE.
The Sacred Valley is a major tourist destination. In 2013, 1.2 million people, 800,000 of them non-Peruvians, are estimated to have visited
Machu Picchu, its most famous archaeological site. Many of the same tourists also visited other archaeological sites and modern towns in the Sacred Valley.
Stretching from Pisac to Ollantaytambo, this fertile valley is irrigated by the Urubamba River. The Chanapata civilization first utilized this area starting at around 800 BCE because of the rich soil used for agriculture. The Qotacalla civilization lived in the Sacred Valley from 500 to 900 CE The Killke civilization then lived in the Sacred Valley from 900 CE until the Incan Empire took over the region in 1420. The Incan Empire ruled this area until the arrival of the Spanish.
Geography
![Pisac012](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Pisac012.jpg)
The valley, running generally west to east, is understood to include everything along the
Urubamba River
The Urubamba River or Vilcamayo River (possibly from Quechua ''Willkamayu'', for "sacred river") is a river in Peru. Upstream it is called Vilcanota River (possibly from Aymara ''Willkanuta'', for "house of the sun"). Within the La Convención ...
between the town and Inca ruins at
Písac
Písac or Pisac (possibly from Quechua for '' Nothoprocta'', also spelled ''p'isaqa'') is a Peruvian town in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. It is situated on the Vilcanota River. Pisac is most known for its Incan ruins and large market which a ...
and Machu Picchu, distant. The Sacred Valley has elevations above sea level along the river ranging from at Pisac to at the Urubamba River below the citadel of Machu Picchu. On both sides of the river, the mountains rise to much higher elevations, especially to the south where two prominent mountains overlook the valley:
Sahuasiray, and
Veronica, in elevation. The intensely cultivated valley floor is about wide on average. Side valleys and agricultural terraces (
andenes) expand the cultivatable area.
The valley was formed by the Urubamba river, also known as the Vilcanota River, Willkanuta River (
Aymara
Aymara may refer to:
Languages and people
* Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language
** Aymara language, the main language within that family
** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...
, "house of the sun") or Willkamayu (
Quechua
Quechua may refer to:
*Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru
*Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language
**So ...
). The latter, in Quechua, the still spoken ''lingua franca'' of the Inca Empire, means the ''sacred river''. It is fed by numerous tributaries which descend through adjoining valleys and gorges and contains numerous archaeological remains and villages. The Sacred Valley was the most important area for
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...
production in the heartland of the Inca Empire and access through the valley to tropical areas facilitated the import of products such as
coca
Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine.
The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, ...
leaf and
chile pepper
Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for t ...
s to Cuzco.
The climate of
Urubamba is typical of the valley. Precipitation, concentrated in October through April, totals annually and monthly average temperatures range between in November, the warmest month, to in July, the coldest month. The Incas built extensive irrigation works throughout the valley to counter deficiencies and seasonality in precipitation.
History
The early Incas lived in the Cuzco area. By conquest or diplomacy, during the period 1000 to 1400 CE, the Inca achieved administrative control over the various ethnic groups living in or near the Sacred Valley.
The attraction of the Sacred Valley to the Inca, in addition to its proximity to Cuzco, was probably that it was lower in elevation and therefore warmer than any other nearby area. The lower elevation permitted maize to be grown in the Sacred Valley. Maize was a prestige crop for the Incas, especially to make
chicha, a fermented maize drink the Incas and their subjects consumed in large quantities at their many ceremonial feasts and religious festivals.
Chicha has had a long historical significance. In times of warfare, the Incas would take the decapitated skull of their enemies and turn them into a drinking vessels for Chicha. This ceremonial process of drinking Chicha from the head of a foe symbolized the successful transformation from the disorder of warfare to the order of the Incan Empire.
Large scale maize production in the Sacred Valley was apparently facilitated by varieties bred in nearby
Moray, either a governmental crop laboratory or a seedling nursery of the Incas.
The Inca customarily divided conquered lands into three more-or-less equal parts. One part was for the emperor (the
Sapa Inca), one part for the religious establishment, and one part for the communities of farmers themselves. In the 1400s, the Sacred Valley became an area of royal estates and country homes. Once a royal estate was created by an emperor it continued to be owned by descendants of the emperor after his death. The estate of the emperor
Yawar Waqaq
Yawar Waqaq (Hispanicized spellings ''Yahuar Huacac, Yáhuar Huácac'') or Yawar Waqaq Inka was the seventh Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cusco (beginning around CE 1380) and the second of the Hanan dynasty.
His father was Inca Roca
Inca Roca (Qu ...
(c. 1380) was located at Paullu and
Lamay
Lamay District is one of eight districts of the province Calca in Peru.
Geography
Some of the highest mountains of the district are listed below: escale.minedu.gob.pe - UGEL map of the Calca Province (Cusco Region)
Ethnic groups
The peo ...
(a few kilometers downstream from Pisac);
Huchuy Qosqo
Huchuy Qosqo, (also spelled Yuchuy Cuzco), is an Incan archaeological site north of Cuzco, Peru. Its name is Quechua for "Little Cuzco." It lies at an elevation of , overlooking the Sacred Valley and west and above the town of Lamay at an el ...
, the estate of the emperor
Viracocha Inca
Viracocha (in hispanicized spelling) or Wiraqucha ( Quechua, the name of a god) was the eighth '' Sapa Inca'' of the Kingdom of Cusco (beginning around 1410) and the third of the Hanan dynasty.
He was not the son of Yawar Waqaq; however, it was ...
(c. 1410–1438), overlooks the Sacred Valley; the estate of
Pachacuti (1438–1471) was at Pisac, and the sparse ruins of
Quispiguanca
Quispiguanca, also Q'espihuanca and Q'espiwanka, was a royal estate of the Inca emperor Huayna Capac (c. 1464–1525 CE). The ruins of the estate are located in the northern part of the present-day town of Urubamba, Peru at an elevation of .
...
. the estate of the emperor
Huayna Capac
Huayna Capac (with many alternative transliterations; 1464/1468–1524) was the third Sapan Inka of the Inca Empire, born in Tumipampa sixth of the Hanan dynasty, and eleventh of the Inca civilization. Subjects commonly approached Sapa Inkas add ...
(1493–1527), is in the town of
Urubamba. Most archaeologists believe that
Machu Picchu was built as an estate for Pachacuti.
Agricultural terraces, called andenes, were built up hillsides flanking the valley floor and are today the most visible and widespread signs of the Inca civilization in the Sacred Valley.
In 1537, the Inca Emperor
Manco Inca Yupanqui
Manco Inca Yupanqui ( 1515 – c. 1544) (''Manqu Inka Yupanki'' in Quechua) was the founder and monarch (Sapa Inca) of the independent Neo-Inca State in Vilcabamba, although he was originally a puppet Inca Emperor installed by the Spaniards. ...
fought and won the
Battle of Ollantaytambo
The Battle of Ollantaytambo ( es, Batalla de Ollantaytambo, ) took place in January 1537, between the forces of Inca emperor Manco Inca and a Spanish expedition led by Hernando Pizarro during the Spanish conquest of Peru. A former ally of the Sp ...
against a
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
army headed by
Hernando Pizarro
Hernando Pizarro y de Vargas (; born between 1501 and 1508, died 1578) was a Spanish conquistador and one of the Pizarro brothers who ruled over Peru.
Hernando was born in Trujillo, (Extremadura), Spain, son of Captain Gonzalo Pizarro y Rodr ...
. Nevertheless, Manco soon withdrew from the Sacred Valley and the area came under the control of the Spanish colonialists.
Oral histories in the Quechua language suggest that the ancient Inca married Pachamama (Mother Earth) and produced human offspring. The Incas are renowned for their precision in stone masonry. The architecture was a means of bringing order to untamed areas and the people of the Andes region. Machu Picchu, located in the Sacred Valley, is an example of the Incas adapting building strategies that acknowledge the topography of the area. While other Pre-Columbian cultures constructed man-made mountains, the Incas emphasized the natural forms of the topography around them. The Sacred Rock, located in the Sacred Valley, is an example of a stone that draws attention to the horizon of the mountain range.
See also
*
Huayna Picchu
Huayna Picchu, qu, Wayna Pikchu, is a mountain in Peru around which the Urubamba River bends. It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District. It rises over Machu Picchu, the so-called lost city of the Incas. T ...
*
Machu Picchu
*
Ollantaytambo
Ollantaytambo ( qu, Ullantaytampu) is a town and an Inca archaeological site in southern Peru some by road northwest of the city of Cusco. It is located at an altitude of above sea level in the district of Ollantaytambo, province of Urubamb ...
*
PeruRail
PeruRail is a railway operator providing tourist, freight, and charter services in southern Peru. It was founded in 1999 by two Peruvian entrepreneurs and the British company Sea Containers.
The main line between the port of Matarani, Arequipa ...
*
Sallqaqucha Wallata Warak'ay
*
Naqsh-e Rustam
Naqsh-e Rostam ( lit. mural of Rostam, fa, نقش رستم ) is an ancient archeological site and necropolis located about 12 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars Province, Iran. A collection of ancient Iranian rock reliefs are cut into t ...
–
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
"Valley of the Kings" royal tombs.
*
Ming and Qing Imperial Tombs – Royal tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
*
Tomb of Genghis Khan
The location of the burial place of Genghis Khan (died August 18, 1227) has been the object of much speculation and research. The site remains undiscovered, although it is strongly implied that the most likely location is somewhere in the vicin ...
– An undiscovered place of burial of Genghis Khan and his royal family.
*
Valley of the Kings (Egypt)
*
Valley of the Kings (Tibet)
The Valley of the Kings (; ) or Chongye Valley branches off the Yarlung Valley to the southwest and contains a series of graveyard tumuli, approximately south of Tsetang, Tibet, near the town of Qonggyai on Mure Mountain in Qonggyai County of the ...
References
External links
{{Archaeological sites in Peru
Valleys of Peru
Inca
Archaeological sites in Cusco Region
Archaeological sites in Peru
Landforms of Cusco Region