Saqsaywaman
Zigzag megalithic fortress walls of house-sized stones, site of a bloody sixteenth-century siege above Cusco.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Saqsaywaman above Cusco opens on the night of May 6, 1536, when Manco Inca Yupanqui's warriors, having already taken the abandoned fortress, turned its zigzag ramparts into a siege gun and sent burning sling stones down onto the Spanish-held city below. It follows the days of bombardment that followed, and Juan Pizarro's desperate counterattack up the slope to break it. Along the way it traces how these house-sized walls were only ever part of a much larger complex. Walk the terraces slowly, the drop to the valley floor is steepest near the three round towers.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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