History

The history of the Sacred Valley of the Incas

Q: Why is it called the Sacred Valley?

The name comes from the river that runs through it, the Vilcanota (also called Urubamba), whose Quechua name, Willka Mayu, is usually translated as "sacred river". It was also one of the most fertile and prized lands of the Inca world.

A fertile valley along the Vilcanota river that was a granary, a home to Inca nobility and a stage of resistance against the conquest.

Why it is called "Sacred"

The valley follows the Vilcanota river, which further downstream takes the name Urubamba. Its Quechua name, Willka Mayu, is usually translated as "sacred river". To that link with water you can add its value as fertile land, with a milder climate than Cusco.

Granary and home of the nobility

For the Incas, the valley was one of the most important farming areas: the terraces of Pisac and Ollantaytambo, the rings of Moray and the canal systems show how much work went into cultivating these slopes. Residences and ceremonial centres tied to the Inca elite were built here too.

A landscape that is still alive

What makes the valley special is that its history is not only in the stones: Chinchero still weaves, families in Maras still harvest salt, and Ollantaytambo is still lived in on an Inca street plan.

Inca terraces

In broad strokes

The valley through time

Before the Incas

Andean peoples already farmed the valley and used resources such as the salt springs of Maras.

The Inca period

The valley becomes prime farmland, with terraces, canals and residences of the nobility.

The conquest

Ollantaytambo becomes a stage of Manco Inca resistance against the Spanish.

Colonial period

Churches are raised on Inca structures, as at Chinchero.

Today

Communities still weaving, farming and harvesting salt, alongside the archaeological sites.

The legacy on tour

Where to see this history

Pisac

Farming terraces and the religious sector with the Intihuatana.

Ollantaytambo

Temple-fortress and an Inca town still lived in.

Chinchero

Inca walls beneath a colonial church, and a weaving tradition.

Moray and Maras

Agricultural engineering and salt ponds worked by the community.

History

Questions about the history

The name comes from the river that runs through it, the Vilcanota (also called Urubamba), whose Quechua name, Willka Mayu, is usually translated as "sacred river". It was also one of the most fertile and prized lands of the Inca world.

It was a key farming area, with a milder climate than Cusco, and it held residences and ceremonial centres of the Inca nobility, such as Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Chinchero.

Ollantaytambo was one of the stages of Manco Inca resistance against the Spanish in the sixteenth century.

Chinchero, Pisac and Ollantaytambo on both routes, plus Moray and the Maras salt mines on the VIP route.