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Hiram Bingham, who re-discovered Machu Picchu In 1572, the conqueror and governor of Vilca-
in 1911, believed that it was the lost city and the bama, Martin Hurtado de Arbieto, founded San
last refuge of the Inca, but this has since been Francisco de la Victoria de Vilcabamba, also
proven otherwise by many other explorers and known as Vilcabamba la Nueva (“the New”), 5
historians. In the 1960’s, archaeologists Antonio kilometres (3.1 mi) west of Vitcos. It is located on
Santander Casselli and Gene Savoy finally made the Pampaconas River, a tributary of the Vilca-
the connection between Espíritu Pampa and the bamba River, which is a tributary of the Urubam-
lost city of the Incas. Since then, archaeological ba River. Hurtado was a brutal administrator,
restoration work of the ruins has been attempted offering encomiendas to Spanish soldiers and
and abandoned throughout the years. making the local Indians virtual slaves. Many of
them died, or abandoned their homes and fled
Vilcabamba or Espiritu Pampa is located near the elsewhere. Silver deposits were discovered nearby
Chontabamba River, a tributary of the Urubam- and the town enjoyed a brief boom, although the
ba River. The Inca capital has often been referred production of the mines was meager and by the
to as Vilcabamba the Old to distinguish it from early 17th century Vilcabamba the New and the
the town of Vilcabamba the New, of Spanish ori- Vilcabama region was no longer of much interest
gin and 35 kilometres (22 mi) in straight-line dis- to the Spanish. Hiram Bingham visited the town
tance southwest of Old Vilcabamba. in 1911, noting that, “Instead of Inca walls or ruins,
Vilcabamba has three score solidly built Span-
In 2010, items belonging to the Wari culture and ish houses...due to the prosperity of gold diggers,
radiocarbon dated to about 700 CE were found who came to work the quartz mines which were
at Espiritu Pampa. This discovery indicated that made accessible after the death of Tupac Am-
the site was occupied long before it became the aru.” Catholic clerics had built a church and a
Inca capital in 1539. As of 2013, archaeological monastery in the town.
investigations of the site were incomplete and the
ruins of Espiritu Pampa were inaccessible by ve-
hicle.
Source: https://www.apus-peru.com/blog/the-espiritu-pampa-trek Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilcabamba,_Peru MACHU PICCHU | 15
15 / SEPT 2016 / ISSUU 08
