CHAPTER XII

The Fortress of Uiticos and the House of the Sun

When the viceroy, Toledo, determined to conquer that last stronghold of the Incas where for thirty-five years they had defied the supreme power of Spain, he offered a thousand dollars a year as a pension to the soldier who would capture Tupac Amaru.  Captain Garcia earned the pension, but failed to receive it; the “manana habit” was already strong in the days of Philip II.  So the doughty captain filed a collection of testimonials with Philip’s Royal Council of the Indies.  Among these is his own statement of what happened on the campaign against Tupac Amaru.  In this he says:  “and having arrived at the principal fortress, Guay-napucara ["the young fortress"], which the Incas had fortified, we found it defended by the Prince Philipe Quispetutio, a son of the Inca Titu Cusi, with his captains and soldiers.  It is on a high eminence surrounded with rugged crags and jungles, very dangerous to ascend and almost impregnable.  Nevertheless, with my aforesaid company of soldiers I went up and gained the fortress, but only with the greatest possible labor and danger.  Thus we gained the province of Uilcapampa.”  The viceroy himself says this important victory was due to Captain Garcia’s skill and courage in storming the heights of Guaynapucara, “on Saint John the Baptist’s day, in 1572.”

The “Hill of Roses” is indeed “a high eminence surrounded with rugged crags.”  The side of easiest approach is protected by a splendid, long wall, built so carefully as not to leave a single toe-hold for active besiegers.  The barracks at Uncapampa could have furnished a contingent to make an attack on that side very dangerous.  The hill is steep on all sides, and it would have been extremely easy for a small force to have defended it.  It was undoubtedly “almost impregnable.”  This was the feature Captain Garcia was most likely to remember.

On the very summit of the hill are the ruins of a partly enclosed compound consisting of thirteen or fourteen houses arranged so as to form a rough square, with one large and several small courtyards.  The outside dimensions of the compound are about 160 feet by 145 feet.  The builders showed the familiar Inca sense of symmetry in arranging the houses, Due to the wanton destruction of many buildings by the natives in their efforts at treasure-hunting, the walls have been so pulled down that it is impossible to get the exact dimensions of the buildings.  In only one of them could we be sure that there had been any niches.

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Figure

Principal Doorway of the Long Palace at Rosaspata
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Figure

Another Doorway in the Ruins of Rosaspata
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Most interesting of all is the structure which caught the attention of Ocampo and remained fixed in his memory.  Enough remains of this building to give a good idea of its former grandeur.  It was indeed