The Site of Waqra Pucará

The name of the archaeological site of Waqrapukara or Waqra Pukará, Quechua for “Horn Fortress,” is a name given because of its appearance of two mountain heights close together and a high land area in between; however, its original name likely would have been “Llamapukara, since the locals claim that they would not be horns, but the ears of a flame.

Waqrapukara, the Horn Fortress between Wanchaq Provine of Cusco and Sacsayhuaman

This archaeological site in Peru is located in the Cusco Region, lying near the Apurímac River. Down river is Q’aqrapukara, the last rope bridge in Peru, which crosses the Apurímac, a glacial melt water river that flows from the Mismi Ridge in the southwestern mountain range. Beginning at 18,363-feet, the river flows all the way to the Amazon River, connecting with the Mantaro after 480 miles, then with the Ene, Tambo, Urubamba and Ucayali rivers. Near Cuzco it flows through canyons 9,842-feet deep, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon.

From Cuzco it flows westward until it reaches 99 miles from the Pacific Ocean before turning north and eventually east in joining the Amazon that empties into the Atlantic Ocean. To the south of Cuzco and then past and to the north, there was no way to cross the river anciently, except for the rope bridge at Q’aqrapukara.

The rope bridge at Q’aqrapukara is the last bridge in Andean Peru and showing the true feats of engineering

The bridge is constructed entirely out of grass and other vegetation, yet somehow they’re sturdy enough for groups of people or even cattle to cross safely. Because of the perishable materials used, each cable of these bridges needed to be replaced once a year. Villages that were home to a bridge completed its annual construction as part of their responsibility to the communities in the region.

Historians estimate that 200 or more of these suspension bridges may have existed at one point in time. Most of these fell out of usage as modern construction techniques gained prominence, including the 148-footer that famously inspired Thornton Wilder’s classic The Bridge of San Luis Rey, which only made it to the 19th century. For the most part, the once-widespread art of building rope bridges has faded into obscurity.

Today, Waqrapukara is one of Cusco’s hidden treasures and seldom visited. The ancient fortress sits at 14,100 feet near the Apurimac River, along the southern plateau of the Sacred Valley, past the Four Lakes district.

It was built on top of a steeper mountain, running sinuously along a rocky outcrop and built around two horn shaped mountain peaks, the site has eight terraces with retaining walls and stone staircases.

Less known and more remote than the more famous monuments of Sacsayhuaman, Tipóns, Moray and Ollantaytambo, it melds amazing stone masonry and spectacular natural formations together. It is made up of two large sets of buildings, with the first group located in the upper part where two groups are located with enclosures, separated by a large central space. This central area contains passageways, portals and niches of ornamental and functional character., and at one end, it features rectangular tone enclosures with niches and double and triple jamb doorways—The discovery of triple-jambed doors at the site is an indication of its particular importance, as they were only placed in doors for seats of great religious and political power.

At the other end are more enclosures, one an E-shaped structure, flanked by a longitudinal wall with trapezoidal niches. There is an underground channel that provides water to the Fortress and aids in its ability to withstand siege and attack. From this area of the fortress lies a spectacular view of the 

Apurímac canyon and river. Further away lies the highlights of the magnificent Andes Mountains high above the altiplano.

The Horn Fortress (Top) showing the upper buildings, stairways and wall; (Bottom) Terraced planting levels for food production

This scenic and secluded archaeological site of Waqrapukara, next to the Apurimac Canyon, remains somewhat shrouded in mystery, perched atop a rugged mountain plateau in the remote countryside of the Cuzco region in southern Peru. The structure was definitely built for defense and would have served as some type of lookout or early warning system for those attacking Cuzco from the south.

This remarkable site has only recently been studied extensively by archaeologists, so the full significance of the complex is just beginning to be uncovered.

Much like Machu Picchu, the builders of Waqrapukara merged finely-crafted stonework with the nearby rock formations to create buildings that both stand out from and blend in with their surroundings. As archaeologist Miguel Cornejo recently told La República (one of Peru’s highest circulation newspapers): “Waqrapukara is a a sanctuary of the first order that denotes immense political and religious power, as-yet undeciphered.”

Anciently, the road from Lake Titicaca to Cuzco was a heavily trafficked route, and the only way to travel northward to the ancient capital. There was also a route past Lake Titicaca from Tiawanku that traveled to the coast and Pachacamac , then northward to Ecuador. These main routes would have been heavily defended, and Waqrapukara would have been one of those outposts from which its occupants could have viewed great distances to the south.

In the Land of Promise, the Nephites built numerous such outposts in the high mountains providing them with distant views of Lamanite approaches. As an example, when the Lamanites were spotted in the borders of the land of Helam, and seeing that they were approaching the people were quite frightened (Mosiah 23:25-26, emphasis added). Or when the Nephites did not have guards or outposts to warn them, the Lamanites could easily “come upon them and slay them” (Mosiah 10:14). But to guard against the Lamanites approaching without notice, the Nephites also had spies so they could know of the Lamanites and their approaches (Alma 2:24).

The cities or towns along the route to Cuzco as they passed the Waqrapukara outpost

An approach to Waqrapukara begins in one of two places: the town of Santa Lucia or the small native farming community of Huayqui, both located about two and half hours from Cusco by car because of approaching over the type of mountain roads. The fortress complex is located roughly halfway between these two settlements and there is a trail leading up from either location. Hiking to Waqrapukara up to the top will take about two hours from Huayqui, or three from Santa Lucia.

The trail to the ruins passes through the quechua, suni and puna ecological zones as one ascend to 10,000 feet above sea level. Chances are flocks of vicuñas, guanacos and condors. These areas would have been called a “wilderness” during Nephite times since there were no settlements or occupation of any kind. Even today this area is sparsely settled and only a few small settlements of Quechua-speaking farm communities exist along the way. There is also a group of scenic lakes known as the “four lagoons” located in this area.

As for Lamanites attacking up the road to Cuzco, it should be remembered that an army completely on foot would be quite susceptible to the weather and heavy rains that turn the path into a muddy quagmire. In fact, the weather in these highlands is wuite unpredictable and know when the weather is more promising and conducive to moving an army far from its base would be important, both for the Lamanites and the Nephites. Therefore, it would be important to know that the west season covers a period we call today from November to April. It would also be important for the Lamanites to carry plenty of water to combat dehydration, and much food, not knowing how much they could live off the land since they would be a great distance from their home base.