The Sacred Valley in the Peruvian Andes is located southeast of Lima at an elevation ranging between 2000 and 3000 meters.
The Urubamba
River has created fertile fields, ideally suited for growing a local variety of mais, the staple food of the Incas.
The
valley with its terrassed hills was the heartland of the Inca Empire, which started around Cuzco in the 11th century and
expanded over the following centuries to include large parts of present day Ecuador, Argentina, Bolivia and Chile.
When
the small party of Spanish conquestadors under Francisco Pizarro arrived in 1532 they found a weakened Inca empire
because of an internal powerstruggle between the brothers Atahualpa and Huáscar with Atahuapa having just defeated his brother
in the Battle of Quipaipan.
The ruthless Spaniards easily tricked, captured and finally killed Atahualpa and then
thoroughly plundered the Inca empire for gold and silver. Priests built churches on the ruins of the Inca temples and converted
the locals to christianity.
Each year the Sacred Valley and surroundings welcome millions of tourist that visit the
famous Inca sites at Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo and Cuzco.
We joined the crowds in June 2008.
