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In the Quechua language, Llaqta means place (village, town, city, country, nation). Pata means elevated placed above a bank (of a river), shore, pronounced ‘yakta-pahta’. It is an archaeological site about 5km (3.1 mi) west of Machu Picchu.
The complex is located in the Cusco Region Santa Teresa District. High on a ridge between the Ahobamba and Santa Teresa drainages. It appears to be the site originally reported by Hiram Bingham with the same name. Although the site was little explored by Bingham, it was more extensively explored and mapped by the Thomson and Ziegler expedition of 2003.
Bingham first discovered Llaqtapata in 1912. “We found evidence that some Inca chieftain had built his home here and had included in the plan about ten or twelve buildings.” Bingham locates the site “on top of a ridge between the valleys of the Aobamba and the Salkantay Trek Peru, about 5,000 feet above the estate of Huaquina.” “Here we discovered a number of ruins and two or three modern huts. The Indians said that the place was called Llacta Pata.” Bingham did not investigate the ruins thoroughly, however, and they were not studied again for another 70 years.
Thomson and Ziegler
A mid-2003 study of the site conducted by Thomson and Ziegler. The study concluded that the location of Llaqtapata along the Inca trail suggested that it was an important rest stop. A roadside shrine on the journey to Machu Picchu.
This and subsequent investigations have revealed an extensive complex of structures. Features related to and connected with Machu Picchu by a continuation of the Inca Trail leading onward into the Vilcabamba. Llaqtapata may have been a member of the network of interrelated administrative and ceremonial sites. They supported the regional center at Machu Picchu. It probably played an important astronomical function during the ‘Solstices’ and ‘Equinoxes’.
Hike up to the Llactapata ruins and enjoy the great over Machu Picchu!
