a stone lintel nearly eight feet long, while a stone of similar length forms the doorstep. The window is nearly 6 ft. from the ground, 2 ft. 3 in. broad, by 2 ft. 8 in. high. The foundations and parts of the wall continue for 65 ft.; and behind there are three terraces planted with fruit trees, up to the base of the steep ascent, on the summit of which the citadel once stood.
The palace was the work of the great Inca Pachacuti at the time when he was remodelling the whole city.[1] In imagination we can rebuild the palace from these ruins, with its approach through the revetment wall, its beautiful gardens and terraces, its long façade of exactly fitting masonry, and its great hall, which we are told by Garcilasso was intact in his time. Pachacuti called it the Llactapata, and desired to be interred there. The more modern term Colcampata may have been given owing to granaries (colca) having been placed there at some later time.
Here dwelt Carlos Inca with his wife Maria de Esquivel, as the head of the section of his family that had submitted to the Spaniards. His relations, driven from their homes in the city, lived in the suburbs and the neighbouring villages. The Inca received frequent visits from them, and appears to have held a somewhat melancholy court. Carlos was the depositary of a great secret. Between the time when the transmission of Atahualpa's ransom
- ↑ It is attributed to the mythical Manco Ccapac. The masonry and style of building show this to be impossible.
