The ransom story
Gold and silver.
Velvet — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Polmartin14+ — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Polmartin14+ — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Antonio Velasco. — CC BY-SA 3.0
A small stone room in central Cajamarca that witnessed one of the great moments of history in the Americas: here Atahualpa, the last independent Inca emperor, was held after Spanish invaders led by Francisco Pizarro captured him in the town square in November 1532. The historical account says Atahualpa offered a ransom for his freedom: to fill a room with gold up to the height of his raised hand, and twice over with silver. Treasures poured into Cajamarca from all over the empire, yet the Spanish executed him anyway in 1533, and the Inca Empire effectively ended. The room itself is simple, with walls of Inca-style cut stone and trapezoid windows, and a line on one wall said to mark the height of the ransom, though historians disagree on whether this is the actual room. It is among the last Inca buildings left in the city. The visit is short, and a guide to tell the story helps. From here you can walk to the main square where the capture happened, and up to the Santa Apolonia lookout on the hill above town.
Gold and silver.
Trapezoid windows.
Where it happened.
Jirón Amalia Puga 750, near the main square, central Cajamarca
The site presents it as such, but historians disagree: it may have been Atahualpa's cell rather than the treasure room itself. Either way it is among the last Inca buildings in Cajamarca.