OLLANTAYTAMBO Destructed by Tsunami 3

Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu. Ollantaytambo is situated 40 miles north-west of Cuzco. Like Sacsayhuaman, it consists of a series of terraced levels, defended by huge megalithic walls. Like Sacsayhuaman and Tiwanaku, the site is littered with stone blocks in which mysterious niches have been cut with precise angles and perfect inside edges. Curiously, one of the lower walls here has been repaired with inferior quality stones, which stand on top of their superior megalithic cousins. No-one but the Incas could have carried out these repairs. It is a feature repeated at other sites such as Pisac, and provides a further clue to the limited scope and quality of Inca constructions, contrasting their achievements to those from the pre-Inca period. Above the fortified terracing at Ollantaytambo, there lies a mysterious building romantically known as the Temple of the Sun. This temple is fronted by six enormous monoliths, the largest stone measuring over 13 feet in height.