🏛️ Ingapirca
Ecuador
About This Sacred Site
Ingapirca is the most significant Inca archaeological site in Ecuador, located in the highlands of Cañar Province at 3,160 meters above sea level. The site's centerpiece is the Temple of the Sun — an elliptical platform of precisely fitted stonework built by the Inca over an earlier Cañari sacred site. The Cañari people worshipped the moon here, and the Inca added their solar temple, creating a layered sacred landscape. The site also includes storehouses, ceremonial baths, and an Inca road.
Key Facts
- •The most important Inca ruins in Ecuador, at 3,160 meters above sea level
- •Built by the Inca over an earlier sacred site of the Cañari civilization
- •The Temple of the Sun features precision-cut stonework in the Cusco imperial style
- •The Cañari worshipped the moon; the Inca overlaid it with sun worship
- •Part of the Qhapaq Ñan (Inca road system), a UNESCO World Heritage transnational site
Location
Coordinates: -2.5452, -78.8808
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