Ollantaytambo[1][2] (Quechua: Ullantaytampu) is a town and an Inca archaeological site in southern Peru some 72 km (45 mi) by road northwest of the city of Cusco.

During the Inca Empire, Ollantaytambo was the royal estate of Emperor Pachacuti, who conquered the region,[3]: 73  and built the town and a ceremonial center.

Around the mid-15th century, the Inca emperor Pachacuti conquered and razed Ollantaytambo; the town and the nearby region were incorporated into his personal estate.

[5] During the Spanish conquest of Peru, Ollantaytambo served as a temporary capital for Manco Inca, leader of the native resistance against the conquistadors.

[7][8]: 453  Despite his victory, however, Manco Inca did not consider his position tenable, so the following year, he withdrew to the heavily forested site of Vilcabamba,[9] where he established the Neo-Inca State.

[2] In the 19th century, the Inca ruins at Ollantaytambo attracted the attention of several foreign explorers; among them, Clements Markham, Ephraim Squier, Charles Wiener, and Ernst Middendorf published accounts of their findings.

[13][14] All blocks on the southern half of the town were built to the same design; each comprised two kanchas, walled compounds with four one-room buildings around a central courtyard.

[19] Araqhama is a western prolongation of the main settlement, across the Patakancha River; it features a large plaza, called Manyaraki, surrounded by constructions made out of adobe and semicut stones.

Due to impressive character of these terraces, the Temple Hill is commonly known as the Fortress, but this is a misnomer, as the main functions of this site were religious.

[25] Which event halted construction at the Temple Hill is unknown; likely candidates include the war of succession between Huáscar and Atahualpa, the Spanish Conquest of Peru, and the retreat of Manco Inca from Ollantaytambo to Vilcabamba,.

The andenes permitted farming on otherwise unusable terrain; they also allowed the Incas to take advantage of the different ecological zones created by variations in altitude.

Land inside Callejón is protected from the wind by lateral walls which also absorb solar radiation during the day and release it during the night; this creates a microclimate zone 2 to 3 °C warmer than the ground above it.

The site features three main quarrying areas: Mullup'urku, Kantirayoq, and Sirkusirkuyoq; all of them provided blocks of rose rhyolite for the elaborate buildings of the Temple Hill.

[34] As Ollantaytambo is surrounded by mountains, and the main access routes run along the Urubamba Valley; there, the Incas built roads connecting the site with Machu Picchu to the west and Pisaq to the east.