The Sacred Valley of the Incas or Urubamba Valley is a valley in the Andes of Peru, close to the Inca capital of Cusco and below the ancient sacred city of Machu Picchu. The valley is generally understood to include everything between Písac and Ollantaytambo, parallel to the Urubamba River, or Vilcanota River or Wilcamayu, as this Sacred river is called when passing through the valley. It is fed by numerous rivers which descend through adjoining valleys and gorges, and contains numerous archaeological remains and villages. The valley was appreciated by the Incas due to its special geographical and climatic qualities. It was one of the empire's main points for the extraction of natural wealth, and the best place for maize production in Peru.

PISAC

Písac is a Peruvian village in the Sacred Valley on the Urubamba River. The village is well-known for its market every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, an event which attracts heavy tourist traffic from nearby Cusco. One of its more notable features is a large pisonay tree which dominates the central plaza. The sanctuary of Huanca, home to a sacred shrine, is also near the village. Pilgrims travel to the shrine every September.

The area is perhaps best known for its Incan ruins, known as Inca Písac, which lie atop a hill at the entrance to the valley. The ruins are separated along the ridge into four groups: Pisaqa, Intihuatana, Q'allaqasa, and Kinchiracay. Intihuatana includes a number of bathes and temples. The Temple of the Sun, a volcanic outcrop carved into a "hitching post" for the Sun (or Inti), is the focus, and the angles of its base suggest that it served some astronomical function. Q'allaqasa, which is built onto a natural spur and overlooks the valley, is known as the citadel.

The hillside is lined with agricultural terraces constructed by the Inca and still in use today. These terraces were created by hauling richer topsoil from the lower lands by hand. They enabled them to produce surplus food more than would normally be possible at altitudes as high as 11,000 feet. With military, religious, and agricultural structures, the site served at least a triple purpose. Besides a country estate, it is thought that Písac defended the southern entrance to the Sacred Valley, while Choquequirao defended the western entrance and the fortress at Ollantaytambo the northern. Inca Pisac controlled a route which connected the Inca Empire with the border of the rain forest. According to Kim MacQuarrie, Pachacuti erected a number of royal estates after he conquered other ethnic groups to remember the victories. Among these royal estates are Pisac (victory over the Cuyos), Ollantaytambo (victory over the Tambos) and Machu Picchu (conquest of the Vilcabamba Valley). Other historians suggest that Pisac was established in order to protect Cusco from possible attacks of the Antis nations. It is unknown when Inca Pisac was built. Since it does not appear to have been inhabited by any pre-Inca civilization, it was most likely built no earlier than 1440. It was distroyed by Pizarro and the Conquistadores in the early 1530s. The modern town of Pisac was built by Viceroy Toledo down in the valley during the 1570s.

The narrow rows of terraces beneath the citadel are thought to represent the wing of a partridge (pisaca), from which the village and ruins get their name. The birds are also common in the area at dusk.

OLLANTAYTAMBO

Ollantaytambo, one of the most monumental architectural complexes of the Inca Empire, commonly called "Fortress" because of its huge walls, was actually a city-Tambo or accommodation, strategically located to dominate the Sacred Valley.

Location
One is in the district of the same name, northeast of the city of Cusco. 2.792 m to travel by train, the station of Ollantaytambo is at 68 km, by road via Chincheros-Urubamba, the distance is 75 km, by road via Pisac, the distance is 93 km

The archaeological complex of Ollantaytambo was a strategic military center, religious and agricultural. The scenery is of exceptional architectural interest in the size, style and originality of his buildings.

Ollantaytambo is one of the most unique and amazing archaeological sites in Peru, by the multiplicity of architectural types and the uniqueness of each of them has not reached the full knowledge of the techniques used in the construction of its huge walls, with pieces megalithic polyhedra corresponding to irregular in shape and finish. Each stone work is a work of art independent in relation to the others, with sides, angles and different volumes.

The town was divided into rectangular blocks with a well planned geometrical layout giving the impression of being a town designed by modern architects. The streets narrow opening towards the river Urubamba. Every block or field consists of a set of houses that share the same door to the courtyard. The village's distribution of rectilinear and narrow streets, which are inhabited continuously since the time of the Incas.

This gigantic Inca complex served as ceremonial, agricultural, religious, military and administrative center. It is located in the Sacred Valley, at 97 km of Cusco. In this place the Ancestral Routes of Ollantaytambo have been established, conformed by the impressive snow-covered mountains that govern the zone, the crops that give color to the land, the platforms and the staircases that climb the mountain abysses of matchless beauty and the traditional towns that follow throughout the way.

The ancestral routes lead to:

a)      Pumamarca (PreInca fortress with a imposing view of the valley of Patacancha; the legend affirms that it was the route of the Ayar brothers). This way leads to the town of Willoc, famous by its textiles.

b)      Wílloc (farmers community heir of old post Inca Ayllus).

c)      Kachiqata (hill where the stone quarries were used to construct some buildings in Ollantaytambo, located at the other margin of the Vilcanota river).

d)     Pachar (ex- farm property that has an interesting archaeological site and andenes used until today).

e)      Deposits or colcas of Pinkuylluna hill (it was thought that they were prisons).

Yanacocha (lagoon where the water that fed the archaeological complex departed).

CHINCHERO

It is a district in the Urubamba province, 30 Kms. (19 miles) away through the paved road, northwest from Qosqo. Its altitude is 3780 mts. (12400 feet), over a plateau that is cold during the early mornings and at night time. It was one of the most important Inkan towns in the region, where even today it is possible to see vestiges of its great past.

The meaning of its original name is lost; although, today tradition knows it as the "land of the rainbow" because over here the K'uychi (rainbow) is frequently seen in the rainy season. As it is known the rainbow was a special deity among Inkas; it had a temple inside the Qosqo's Qorikancha, and still today in many regions of the Andes people respect, fear or even revere it.  

In Chinchero, every Sunday morning there is a nice native market, which is one of the most typical and commendable ones in the region. Over here it is still possible to observe bartering of goods, and almost always people exchange tropical goods such as fruits, coca leaves or salt for some other regional goods such as potatoes, broad beans, ollucos, etc. Also over here, there is a market for tourists with diverse handicrafts with very well made weavings standing out. Unlike some other markets where merchants are foreigners, over here merchants are native regional people.