Where the Inca Empire Ended — the Andean valley city where Francisco Pizarro captured Atahualpa in 1532, the Inca monarch's Ransom Room still stands, volcanic hot springs have been used for 3,000 years, and Peru's most exuberant carnival erupts every February with water balloons and flour fights
Cajamarca is a colonial Andean city in northern Peru's highlands, holding the singular historical distinction of being the site where the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire began: on 16 November 1532, Francisco Pizarro and 168 conquistadors captured the Inca emperor Atahualpa at the Battle of Cajamarca — the decisive confrontation that set in motion the fall of the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The Cuarto del Rescate (Ransom Room) is the only Inca building still standing in Cajamarca — a stone chamber where Atahualpa offered to fill the room once with gold and twice with silver in…
Cajamarca's history predates the Inca by several thousand years — the region was inhabited by the Cajamarca culture from around 200 CE, known for distinctive red-on-white pottery. The Inca incorporated Cajamarca into Tawantinsuyu (the Inca Empire) in the 15th century under Pachacuti and Tupac Yupanqui; the thermal springs at Baños del Inca became a royal retreat. The 1532 Battle of Cajamarca is the pivotal event of South American history: Pizarro's ambush of Atahualpa's retinue (killing approximately 2,000 unarmed Inca attendants) despite being outnumbered 80:1 was made possible by steel armo…