Ingapirca Archaeological Complex — Attraction in Ingapirca

Great family trip to part of Ecuadorian Inca history one hour from Cuenca. A guide is required with a small entry fee. Easy walking tour with a Museum and an optional souvenir shop.

Ingapirca (from Kichwa : inga, "Inca" and pirka "wall") is the best-preserved Inca ruins in Ecuador ( Cañar Province ). It was formerly known as Hatun Cañar , meaning "great place of the Cañaris ".

The site was initially a settlement of the Cañari culture , although it was later occupied by the Incas , who built most of the structures that survive to this day.

It is primarily known for the great sun temple of Ingapirca, which is unique in the Inca Empire in that it is oval in plan . No such constructions are known at any other Inca site.

The transport to Ingapirca was beautiful with rolling hills and mountain valleys. On our tour we had lunch in Ingapirca - it was very tasty and came with a cinnamon drink (caneloza) which is offered with alcohol or non-alcohol.

Canelazo is a hot alcoholic beverage consumed in the Andean highlands of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and northern Argentina.

It typically consists of aguardiente (sugar cane alcohol), sugar or panela, and agua de canela (water boiled with cinnamon).

Canelazo is traditionally made with homemade aguardiente, but bottled alcohol is also used. There are many variations on the recipe.

It is often made with fruit juice (typically naranjilla, mora, or maracuyá juice). Cloves are sometimes added, and alcohol is sometimes omitted.

It was an affordable and funday trip outing. The history and physical structure's of Ingapirca is definitely worth the visit - our group was 69 years old, 50's, 16 and an 11 year old.

We had a great time with an excellent Guide - Andres Estaban Leon (You can find him on Facebook).

Good time had by all - Well worth the 1 hour trip to Ingapirca...

I'm a stone mason. This is a stone structure. What's not to like..??? 😉

Our guide. The owner of, Polylepsis Tours., of Cuenca. Was very knowledgeable, well read, and factual in his presentation. His English is excellent - very helpful for me who speaks Pikito Espanole... Being well read myself, I had a lot of questions. All answered, with good answers, not just "tour guide info" regurgitated. He made the tour special and unique. My friend and I loved it.

His explanation of the differing quality of stonework made perfect sense. As a tradesman. I know when I'm doing work for a top level client, I do my absolute best quality workmanship - like the specially crafted stones that fit together without room to slide a piece of paper between. Then there's the quality for, say a aristocratic where you mortar them with baby finger sized joints. Then the more common quality. You can build a common wall or whole building in the same time, or less; than the time needed to shape one exceptional stone for the Temple of the Sun.

I never had read or heard of how the Cañary people of the Ingapirca area, held off the Inka for 30 years, before submitting to a 200,000 warrior force, coming against the 8,000 Cañary army. The Cañary obviously were superb Warriors. I love history.

Of why the Temple of the Sun was built in a eleptical shape. Not a Inka design, but a traditional Cañary design. So much more - I wish I had recorded it all.

I am grateful for the quality of guide I had. And this amazing complex of which only a...

The ancient archeological site for Inka Culture. It is a very interesting place to visit. You may not enter the site on your own, you have to be a part of a tour group. When we arrived to Ingapirca, we just missed a tour, and there were no spaces available in the next couple of groups. I believe they were having tour groups every half an hour, but the number of participants is limited due to COVID-19. However, we were very lucky that our friend, with whom we drove up to the site is a journalist. He convinced the administration that he has sufficient knowledge of the Inka, their traditions and about that site in particular, that he could act as our guide. Which is what we did! We had a group of three and enjoyed our time very much. It is a beautiful site and very well preserved, with rich history. Just keep in mind that it is much higher up in the mountains than Cuenca, and it gets very cold in that area. Moreover, apparently, most of the time it is cloudy and rainy, so don’t forget your windbreaker...