Willka Pampa

Willka Pampa, or Vilcabamba, lay in the forested mountains west of Cusco. Deep valleys and difficult passes protected a region where Inca settlements stood among the eastern slopes of the Andes. The ruins at Espíritu Pampa have been identified with the last capital of the independent Inca rulers, known to Spanish chroniclers as Vilcabamba the Old.

After withdrawing from the struggle for Cusco, Manco Inca established his court in Vilcabamba. His successors maintained an Inca state there for nearly four decades, negotiating with and resisting the Spanish authorities. In 1572 a Spanish expedition entered the region and captured the last ruler, Túpac Amaru. His execution at Cusco ended the independent Inca court, though its history remained inseparable from the mountains that had sheltered it.