On the right bank of Urubamba river there are so far 29 registered archaeological sites. Below we will describe some of the most important ones.

Salapuncu

Approximately at Km. 84 of the railway and 2,600 m above sea level, the valley of the Urubamba river noticeably narrows due to the outcropping of a great rocky formation. The Incas used it to control access to the lower part of the valley, as the only road descending from Ollantaytambo passes through it.

The Wall

The road that comes from up the valley is interrupted by a great wall. To avoid it, one has to go through a great opening leading to a small enclosure. Then, one has to go down some stairways until one finally goes through a great trapeze-shaped opening measuring 2.3 meters. Only then can one continue along the road which runs downstream parallel to the Urubamba river.

The Great Enclosure

Behind the wall there is a great enclosure, unique in kind and in all the region, measuring an average of 8 meters long by 3 meters high, with walls 1.6 meters thick. There are other significant cultural elements showing the importance of this site in the complex system of space management. One of them is a rock formation decorated with pictographic motifs which farmers in the area identify as representing the sun and the moon.

The Cabracancha Channel

Furthermore, one of the Incas' main hydraulic works, the Cabracancha irrigation channel, starts here and then flows across the Canabamba area. Unfortunately, it has been severely damaged by the construction of the railway. Finally, opposite this, across the river, stands a carved rock known as huaca, evidently for ceremonial use.

Corihuayrachina

This is a second narrowing of Urubamba valley, due to a rocky outcrop which over thousands of years was cut out by water action, approximately at km. 86. The Incas had to put all their technology to the test in order to overcome this natural obstacle, which was also used to build a second control post to guard the access to Machu Picchu, and to build a bridge allowing passage to the other bank of the river. Moreover, reinforcing once again the close relationship between nature and the supernatural, the rocky formation was used as a giant huaca, to carry out a great number of carvings in bas-relief, including regularly spaced shapes and holes.