Cañari Trail & Ingapirca

Sample itinerary

• Tour hours
• 1

  Cañari people

  The Cañaris were once the principal indigenous group in all of southern Ecuador. When the Incas arrived in the 15th century they at first resisted them fiercely, at one time defeating them and pushing them back to Saraguro. When civil war broke out in 1527 between two claimants to the Inca throne, Atahulapa in Quito and Huascar in Cuzco, the Cañaris sided with Huascar. In retribution Atahualpa killed most of the men and boys of the Cañari tribe. The Cañaris then fought alongside the Spanish against Inca forces in their conquest of Ecuador, but received little recognition from the Spanish for their help. There are currently about 40,000 Quichua-speaking Cañari indigenous peoples living in Cañar, the highest province in Ecuador, most of whom are farmers or herders. They have their own traditional dress and wear felt hats.

• 2

  Ingapirca

  Located at the top of a hill with beautiful views of the surrounding countryside, Ingapirca is the most important Inca complex located in Ecuador. It was built during the Inca expansion into Ecuador at the end of the 15th century on a site that had been occupied by the Cañari people for 500 years. The original Cañari structures were mostly destroyed and replaced by the Incas and their settlement was probably used as a fortress and place of worship on the Inca road between Cuzco and Quito. Today the Temple of the Sun is the only structure that remains mostly intact. The temple features stone walls constructed in the Inca way using massive blocks chiseled to fit together perfectly without the use of mortar.