Inca walled enclosure composed of buildings that face onto a courtyard
Inca Empire
Inca society
Education
Religion
Mythology
Architecture
Engineering
Roads
Army
Agriculture
Ayllu
Cuisine
Inca history
Kingdom of Cusco
Inca Empire
History of Cusco
Chimor–Inca War
Invasion of Chile
Civil War
Spanish conquest
Neo-Inca State
v
t
e
Model of an Inca kancha
A kancha is an Inca rectangular or trapezoidal walled enclosure composed of single-room buildings that face onto a common open courtyard or inner patio in the middle of the enclosure. Kanchas are widespread in the Inca Empire and normally have only one entrance gate. An Inca kancha includes constructions intended for a single function:[1] housing, temples, palaces. In Cusco, the capital of the Empire there existed many kanchas, among them the Coricancha, the Sun temple, the Hatunkancha that housed aqllawasi the house of the acclas (chosen women of the sun) and Amarukancha, the large hall facing the main square called Huakaypata. Other notable kanchas are found in Ollantaytambo and Patallaqta.[2]: ch.
4
Sketch of a cancha in Cusco and a double cancha in Ollantaytambo
Kanchas could have quite different sizes ranging from a large city block to a small enclosure. Also the number of buildings within a kancha varies, including up to eight or more structures.[3] Kanchas were sometimes laying side by side forming a larger unit, or a block. These were generally surrounded by streets or alleys and the entrances to single kanchas would lay on different sides.
While remains of kanchas are found in all the settlements in the territory of the Inca Empire, the best preserved examples are found in Ollantaytambo which, although modified, are still inhabited.[1]: 195
The origin of kanchas may have derived from pre-Inca coastal architecture, especially from the Chimú culture, which flourished between 900 CE and the conquest by the Inca emperor Topa Inca Yupanqui around 1470[1]: 81–84 or from the Wari culture which developed in the south-central Andes and coastal area of modern-day Peru, from about 500 to 1000 CE.[3]: 17
The name kancha is a Quechua term meaning patio or courtyard bordered by a wall.[4]: kancha In modern Spanish the term cancha refers to a sport playground such as for football or tennis, recalling the enclosed space.[5]: cancha
^ abcGasparini, Graziano; Margolies, Luise (1977). Arquitectura inka - Centro de Investigaciones Históricas y Estéticas, Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo Universidad Central de Venezuela - Caracas
^Morris, Craig; Covey, R. Alan; Stein, Pat (2011). The Huánuco Pampa archaeological project - Volume I: The plaza and palace complex. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History - Number 96, 234 pages, 230 figures, 35 tables - Issued November 2, 2011
^ abHyslop, John (1990). Inka Settlement Planning - University of Texas Press - Austin ISBN 0-292-73852-8
^"Diccionario quechua - español - quechua" Gobierno Regional Cusco - Cusco – Second edition, 2005
^Diccionario de la lengua española - online edition
A kancha is an Inca rectangular or trapezoidal walled enclosure composed of single-room buildings that face onto a common open courtyard or inner patio...
part of the Inca capital of Cusco consisted of large kancha, including Qurikancha and the Inca palaces. The best preserved examples of kancha are found...
respectively Incakancha, Inca walled enclosure composed of buildings that face onto a courtyard All pages with titles containing Kancha Canchacanchajasa...
The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu (also known as Camino Inca or Camino Inka) is a hiking trail in Peru that terminates at Machu Picchu. It consists of three...
Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a 2,430-meter (7,970 ft) mountain ridge. Often referred...
("The Golden Temple," from Quechua quri gold; kancha enclosure) was the most important temple in the Inca Empire, and was described by early Spanish colonialists...
elevation is around 3,400 m (11,200 ft). The city was the capital of the Inca Empire from the 13th century until the 16th-century Spanish conquest. In...
Qhapaq Kancha (Quechua qhapaq noble, principal, mighty, kancha corral, "principal corral", hispanicized spelling Ccapac Cancha) is an archaeological site...
(Puquin). Puqin Kancha is protected by the Peruvian state by General Law No. 28296. Rodolfo Cerrón-Palomino, Las etimologías toponímicas del Inca Garcilaso...
Ollantaytambo (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...
the Incas (Spanish: Valle Sagrado de los Incas; Quechua: Willka Qhichwa), or the Urubamba Valley, is a valley in the Andes of Peru, north of the Inca capital...
family clan of the Sapa Inca, the kuraka or emperor of the Inca Empire. The panacas were formed by the descendants of a Sapa Inca or his wife. The basic...
lakes are extant examples. It has been a populated settlement since the Pre-Inca period, and is today an important cultural, educational, political, and commercial...
alternative history is provided by the contemporary writer Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, son of an Inca princess and a conquistador. He said the name Birú was...
Tampukancha (Quechua, tampu inn, kancha enclosure, enclosed place, yard, a frame, or wall that encloses, Hispanicized Tambocancha, also Tambokancha) is...
sites with remains of the Inca period in the province. Other archaeological sites are Chawaytiri, Llamayuq, Qhapaq Kancha and Mawk'ataray. Challwaqucha...
Chumbivilcas is a province in the Andes in South Peru. The Inca called it "Chumpiwillka". The seat of the province is Santo Tomás. Officially Chumbivilcas...
pseudohistorian known for his research about Paititi and the presence of the Incas and pre-Inca civilization in the Amazonian rainforest. In 2010, he reported that...
founded Choquequirao and his son, Tupac Inca Yupanqui, remodeled and extended it after becoming the Sapa Inca. Choquequirao is located in the area considered...
Global Information
