INGAPIRCA

Ingapirca means: wall of the Inca. Located an hour and a half from Cuenca in the province of Canar, it is Ecuador's premier archeological site.

A holy place because of its relation to the mountains, water, sun and valley floor the canary people first built temples here. Canary people we famous for their textiles which, thanks to burial in high altitude places many have been preserved. As the Inca empire grew both the Incas and Canary people lived "juntos" or together.
This is why the placement of the main castle/ temple is different that typical Inca construction because the people honored both the moon and sun gods.
Unfortunately this place has always been in plain site and therefore pillaged for its perfectly square stones throughout the years, by the Spanish, and other people living nearby.

The last two years the government had ordered the return of many stones which can be seen in a pic below.

The castle will be closed to visitors walking in it next year and I feel super lucky to have seen it!

Below there is also the face of the inca in a mountain not far from the ruins, all natural and very interesting.