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.
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Pisaq
Ollantaytambo
Chinchero
Raqchi
Cuzco Area
Machu Picchu