Ingapirca
Ingapirca
Located in the Cañar province, the Ingapirca ruins are the most significant vestige of Incan existence in all of Ecuador. The word Ingapirca itself can be broken into two parts and means Inca (Inga) and wall (pirca), or Incan wall. Indeed, the walls of these ruins are remarkable, held together in the typical Incan way of being cut to perfection without using any adherent, as are the walls in Machu Picchu. Although no one is quite sure as to all of the history surrounding the edifice–partially because the Spanish did not make it their priority to discover and record such histories–the site is believed to have been a temple. When the Spanish arrived they, in fact, took from the structure many of its large blocks to be used in other building projects. But the site still stands, drawing many visitors and serving as a monument to this ancient people.
