The site

Ingapirca, meaning 'Inca wall' in Kichwa, is the largest known set of Inca ruins in Ecuador, in Cañar Province. Built where the Inca met the earlier Cañari people, its centrepiece is the Temple of the Sun, an unusual elliptical building raised around a large natural rock and aligned so that its doorways catch the light of the solstices. The site preserves the reach of Inca stonework and ritual architecture at the northern frontier of the empire.

Field notes

civilizations

Inca

types

Village

occupied

1,000 CE — 1,533 CE

country

Ecuador

elevation

3,123 m above sea level