Cajamarca - El Cuarto de Rescate

El Cuarto de Rescate is the Ransom Chamber, where the Inca ruler Atahualpa was held prisoner by the Spanish. The room was to be filled once with gold and twice with silver as ransom, in exchange for his release. In actual fact, this is likely just the room that held Atahualpa, while the ransom was stored elsewhere. Atahualpa did provide the necessary gold and silver but was executed by Pizarro anyway.

El Cuarto de Rescate is the only Inca building still standing in Cajamarca. It has the unique Inca features of trapezoidal doorways and niches in the walls. The stones here are volcanic and have not weathered as well as those found in areas like Cusco.