Of the great buildings in the province of Vilcas, which are beyond the
city of Guamanga.
The distance from the city of Guamanga to that of Cuzco is sixty
leagues, a little more or less. On this road is the plain of Chupas,
where the cruel battle was fought between the governor Vaca de Castro
and Don Diego de Almagro the Younger. Further on, still following the
royal road, are the edifices of Vilcas, eleven leagues from Guamanga,
which, say the natives, was the centre of the dominions of the Yncas;
for they assert that from Quito to Vilcas is the same distance as from
Vilcas to Chile, these being the extreme points of the empire. Some
Spaniards, who have travelled from one end to the other, say the same.
Ynca Yupanqui ordered these edifices to be built, and his successors
added to them. The temple of the sun was large and richly ornamented. On
one part of the plain, towards the point where the sun rises, there was
a chapel for the lords, made of stone, and surrounded by a low wall,
which formed a terrace about six feet broad, with other steps upon it,
on the highest of which there was a seat where the lord stationed
himself when he said his prayers. This seat was made of a single
enormous stone, eleven feet long, and seven broad. They say that this
stone was once set with gold and precious stones, for it was thus that
they adorned a place held by them in great veneration. On another stone,
which is not small, in the centre of the open space, they killed
animals and young children as sacrifices, whose blood they offered to
their gods. The Spaniards have found some treasure on these terraces.
By the side of the chapel were the palaces of Tupac Ynca Yupanqui, and
other great buildings, besides many storehouses where they put the arms
and fine cloths, with all other things paid as tribute by the Indians of
provinces within the jurisdiction of Vilcas, which was, I have heard it
said in other places, as it were the head of the kingdom. Near a small
hill there were, and still are, more than seven hundred houses, where
they stored up the maize and other provisions for the soldiers who
marched that way. In the middle of the great square there was another
form or seat, where the lord sat to witness the dances and festivals.
The temple of the sun, which was built of stones fitted one on the other
with great skill, had two doorways, approached by two flights of stone
stairs, having, as I counted them, thirty steps apiece. Within this
temple there were lodgings for the priests and virgins. The _Orejones_
and other Indians affirm that the figure of the sun was very rich, and
that there was great treasure in smaller pieces. These buildings were
served by more than forty thousand Indians, divided into relays, and
each chief understood the orders of the governor, who received his power
from the Ynca. To guard the doorways alone there were forty porters. A
gentle channel of water, conducted with much skill, flowed through the
great square, and the lords also had their secret baths both for
themselves and for their women. What may now be seen of all this are the
outlines of the buildings, the walls of the chapels, the temple with its
steps all in ruins, and other ruined buildings. In fine, it once was
what it now is not, and by what it now is we may judge what it once was.
Some of the first Spanish conquerors saw this edifice entire and in its
perfection, as I have myself been told by them.[431]
From Vilcas the road passes to Uramarca, which is seven leagues nearer
Cuzco, and here the great river called Vilcas is crossed, the name being
given because it is near these buildings. On each side of the river
there are very large stone pillars made very strong and with very deep
foundations. From these pillars a bridge of ropes, like those used for
drawing water with a wheel, is slung across the river. These ropes are
so strong that horses may pass over with loosened rein, as if they were
crossing the bridge of Alcantara, or that of Cordova. The bridge was one
hundred and sixty-six paces long when I passed over it.[432] The river
rises in the province of the Soras, which is very fertile, and
inhabited by a warlike race. They and the people of Lucanas[433] speak
one language, and go about dressed in woollen cloths. They possessed
large flocks, and in their provinces there are rich mines of gold and
silver. The Yncas esteemed the Soras and Lucanas so highly, that their
provinces were favoured, and the sons of their chiefs resided at the
court of Cuzco. There are store-houses in these provinces, and great
numbers of wild flocks in the desert mountains. Returning to the royal
road, the traveller reaches the buildings of Uramarca, which is a
village of _Mitimaes_, for most of the natives were killed in the wars
of the Yncas.