Tambo Colorado

Tambo Colorado is the best preserved monument from the Inca times on the Peruvian coast. It is located in the valley of the Pisco river, on the outskirts of Humay, about Km 45 of Via de los Libertadores.

This large architectonic complex was built during the regime of Inca Pachacutec. It was used as administrative premises, shelter for authorities and soldiers, as well as temporary lodging for the Inca on his journeys around this part of the country.

Tambo Colorado is a name consisting of two words in different languages; "Tampu", a Quechua word that means resting place, and Colorado, in Spanish, for the red color that decorated its walls and that can be clearly seen still to date.

But it is not only the red color of its walls what distinguishes Tambo Colorado, but also its typical Inca architecture matching the area, since instead of large stones, like those used in the Inca buildings in the highlands, clay was also used very skillfully by the ancient Peruvians.

The ruins embrace four sets of buildings: The Inca Palace, the Temple of the Sun, the Trapezoidal Platform and the Valley of Pallasca.