Incahuasi Cañete

Incahuasi, the Inca's house, was built during the campaign to subdue the Guarco, the kingdom of the lower Cañete valley, which according to the chronicler Cieza de León held out for years against Inca attack. The response was to construct a permanent base up the valley - a substantial complex of stone and adobe with plazas, storerooms, residential blocks and a ceremonial sector - which colonial sources say was laid out to echo Cusco itself, with sectors named after quarters of the capital. Whether the resemblance was as literal as claimed is debated, but the size and the deliberate planning are clear on the ground. Storage capacity is unusually large, consistent with supplying an army. The site sits beside the road through Lunahuaná, a valley now known for wine, pisco and river rafting, which makes it an easy stop that most visitors to the valley still skip.

The main sights

• The complex - plazas, storerooms and residential blocks in stone and adobe.
• The storage - unusually large capacity, consistent with supplying a campaign.
• The Cusco claim - colonial accounts describing sectors named for the capital.
• The context - a base built to besiege the Guarco kingdom downstream.

When to go

Year-round; the Cañete valley escapes Lima's winter cloud, so June to October is bright here. One to two hours. Easy to combine with Lunahuaná.

Good to know

Much of the site is eroded adobe and takes imagination to read. Limited signage and few staff. Very hot and exposed at midday. The Cusco parallel is a colonial claim, repeated more confidently than the evidence supports.

Nearby

Lunahuaná and its wineries are close; Cañete and the coast are west.