Ruins of Ollantaytambo

Ollantaytambo is situatedat the point where the River Patakancha joins the River Urubamba, Cuzco is 60 kilometers away, and it is 2792 meters above sea level. It is the last Inca fortress before Machu Picchu, but unlike the latter, it was never abandoned, and suffered a siege by the Spanish until the Incas abandoned it to go to Vilcabamba. It is one of the most monumental architectural complexes of the Inca Empire, and although it is called a Fortress, because of its huge walls, it was actually a Tambo or a city strategically positioned to dominate the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The Temple of