Ñaupa Iglesia: Cave Shrine of the Inca

Ñaupa Iglesia is a an Inca sacred place, or w’aka, near Pachar (between Ollantaytambo and Urubamba) in the Sacred Valley of Peru. Although out-of-the-way, the small site is well worth visiting not only for it’s exquisite carvings and architecture, but for its overall design and mood.

Essential Facts

• Fee: Free
• Difficulty: Easy, although it’s a bit of a climb up the terraces
• Time: We spent 45 minutes, but we could have spent more time to soak in the atmosphere. If coming from the brewery, add an hour (1/2 hour each way) for the road for a total of 2-3 hours, depending on your chill time.

Why Go

Ñaupa Iglesia is a w’aka (huaca) or Inca shrine. In Inca belief, a w’aka is a place deemed holy or special, either manmade or natural, but often a combination of the two. This is a wonderful example of a w’aka. The carvings in the rock are as clean and impressive as any in Peru. And the overall layout up above the valley floor gives it a special atmosphere.

It’s awesome, it’s free, and you’ll have it to yourself. If you’re independent travelers, like we are, then this little jewel of an Inca site is such a treat. You won’t have to worry about avoiding the day-tripping bus tours here.

Getting to Ñaupa Iglesia

Ñaupa Iglesia is located 1.5 mi / 2.4 km from the main road through the Sacred Valley, up one of the side valleys behind the town of Pachar. It’s totally walkable, and you can start in one of two places:

1. Brewery Trailhead: Take a collectivo from Ollanta & get dropped off at the Cervecería del Valle Sagrado
   • view in Google Maps
   • Distance: 3.0 mi / 4.8 km
   • Total Elevation: 500 ft / 152 m
2. Railroad Crossing Trailhead: Hire a driver and get dropped off where the valley road crosses the railroad tracks
   • view in Google Maps
   • Distance: 0.5 mi / 0.8 km
   • Total Elevation: 100 ft / 30 m

It’s just a matter of how far up the valley road you start. We had a driver because we were pressed for time, which is why we started at the railroad crossing. But this is an easy walk up a road if you start at the brewery. Not a lot of wayfinding needed, just cross the bridge and continue up the one road that goes up the valley. When the road crosses the tracks for a second time, just bear right on the tracks. Shortly after, a trail goes up to your right. Take that path. It leads up through rows of terraces and takes you to Ñaupa Iglesia.

Map & Route

Details

There’s no admission, no guard, no opening hours. It’s just a place you walk into.

Either way you choose to start, you’re going to be walking down some railroad tracks. Trains still run on these rails — mainly tourists to & from Cusco — so precede with caution. There’s ample room on both sides of the tracks to get out of the way.

• Fees: none
• Bathrooms: no

Trip Report & Photos

13 Apr 2017

On our 2017 Peru trip while we stayed in Ollantaytambo we visited Ñaupa Iglesia. Ñaupa Iglesia (also called Ñaupa Huaca or Choquequilla) is an Inca sacred place (wak’a) located in one of the steep valleys off of the Sacred Valley — the one south of the village of Pachar, just a couple of miles east from Ollantaytambo [map at bottom]. The road leads from right behind the wonderful and unexpected brewery Cervecería del Valle Sagrado.

Our van parked at a bridge and we continued along the railroad tracks. This is the train route between Cusco & Ollantaytambo and then on to Macchu Pichu. The sides of this valley, like many valleys in Peru, are impossibly steep. So steep that as we approached on the railroad tracks, all we could see on the right was a huge rock the size of a multi-story building that had fallen off a higher part of the valley side. We rounded the huge rock, got off the tracks, and started walking up.

Once up a bit we found ourselves on Inca terraces, walking along a wall, then up, then along… Once above the terrace walls the path led to two large fallen rocks propped against each other forming a roof with a dark cave underneath. We’d finally reached the Ñaupa Iglesia itself.

The Inca called their sacred places wak’a or huaca. Here’s my description from my write up of our Tambomachay – Cusco Walk:

These are often called Inca shrines, and indeed they are places that they deemed holy or special. But wak’a are more than a manmade structure. Wak’a can be an interesting rock, a spring, a mountain, a good view — any thing out of the ordinary culd be considered by the Inca as a ‘sacred thing.’ And this includes both natural and manmade places.

Ñaupa Iglesia is a little of both the natural and the manmade, much like many of the other wak’a. The heart of the site is the cave, a stone and mud wall with niches, and a carved boulder.

Inside the cave, on one side, the rock has been dressed to make a vertical wall and a blind niche carved into this. In front were coca leaves, a scattering of flower petals, and the remains of a small fire. Curanderos, or shaman, still use this site, as it remains meaningful to the locals.

On the carved boulder are impressive chakana motifs on different sections of the rock. This three-tiered step pattern is said to represent the lower world of the dead (Uqhu Pacha), the middle world of human experience (Kay Pacha), and the upper world of the gods & stars (Hanan Pacha). The top part is missing, blasted apart with dynamite or black powder by vandals.

But beyond the individual elements, the thing that struck me about Ñaupa Iglesia was its mood. It’s intimate. As you stand in the shelter of the cave, all is quiet except the stream below and the steps of your companions. The other side of the valley serves as a dramatic backdrop to the nearby carved boulder and niche walls. It feels like a exceptional place, a sacred place, a wak’a. Its continued use as a shrine of place of veneration makes sense due to this special mood.

We descended the terraces and followed the tracks back to the van. Ñaupa Iglesia requires extra effort, but the reward is something exceptional.

Try to find the time in your Sacred Valley schedule for a half-day visit. The brewery would make a great post-excursion lunch spot!