History of Ollantaitambo

During the Spanish conquest of Peru Ollantaytambo served as a temporary capital for Manco Inca, leader of the native resistance against the conquistadors. He fortified the town and its approaches in the direction of the former Inca capital of Cusco, which had fallen under Spanish domination. In 1536, on the plain of Mascabamba, near Ollantaytambo, Manco Inca defeated a Spanish expedition blocking their advance from a set of high terraces and flooding the plain. Despite his victory,however, Manco Inca did not consider his position tenable so the following year he withdrew to the heavily forested site of Vilcabamba.

In 1540, the native population of Ollantaytambo was assigned in encomienda to Hernando Pizarro.

In the 19th century the Inca ruins at Ollantaytambo attracted the attention of several foreign explorers, among them, Clements Markham, Ephraim Squier, Charles Wiener and Ernst Middendorf published accounts of their findings