We wish to thank Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for some of the information on this page. We share information with Wikipedia. We also donate to Wikipedia; we would suggest that you also donate to Wikipedia to help them with their good work. Tambomachay (in hispanicized spelling), Tampu Mach'ay or Tampumach'ay (Quechua tampu inn, guest house, mach'ay cave, "guest house cave", other hispanicized and mixed spellings Tambomach'ay, Tambo Mach'ay, Tampumachay, Tanpumachay) is an archaeological site associated with the Inca Empire, located near Cusco, Peru. An alternate Spanish name is El Ba�o del Inca ("the bath of the Inca"). It consists of a series of aqueducts, canals and waterfalls that run through the terraced rocks. The function of the site is uncertain: it may have served as a military outpost guarding the approaches to Cusco, as a spa resort for the Incan political elite, or both. Tambomachay is one of the ruins that you can visit with an "Inca Ticket": that can be purchased. The "Inca Ticket" includes Tambomachay, Qenqa, Puka Pukara, and Saqsayhuaman. Tambomachay is located just past Puca Pacara, about 400 meters off the road. The interesting thing about this site is the fresh water rushing out of the rock faces, like mini-waterfalls. It's not known if the Incas actually bathed here, but they did worship the water here. Water itself was worshiped as the source of life. Tambomachay is remarkable due to its architectonic excellence. We can appreciate four walls or graded terraces embedded to the hill, made of irregular carved-stone polyhedrons, brilliantly assembled, and which make up three parallel cultivation terraces. A thick wall (15 meters long and 4 meters high) decorated with four niches erects on the last polyhedron. The stones had been perfectly adjusted. It has four large trapezoidal niches of 2 meters on average. In front of the building there was a circular large fortified tower that must have had defense and communication aims. In addition; Tambomachay has an extraordinary hydraulic system. Two aqueducts, artistically carved on the rock, transport and keep a constant flow of clean water during the whole year, which comes from a large puddle located at a higher level. This network of underground channels pours its waters in a small stone puddle situated at the lowest level. This puddle had to be a liturgical spring, where the Inca worshiped the water with the noblemen of the Empire. If you look at the monument of Tambomachay from the river you will be able to see two thick walls that cut the support wall. The wall that faces the river has two big niches and the other, almost perpendicular to the first one, has a door with double jamb. This kind of door was used by the Incas to stress the significance of a place. Through that door we get to a small room in which we can see the water that springs from the bowels of the Earth. Tambomachay is located at a foothill near the main road to the Antisuyo, over the Tambomachay River. It is also known as the Tambo de la Caverna (Cave Roadside Hostelry) and it is about 437 square meters in size, at about 3,700 meters of altitude. Tambomachay was used as a resting, & watering area. It was also part of the defense system for the Valley of Cusco. Tambomachay's name comes from two Quechua words: Tampu, which means "collective lodging;" and Mach'ay, which means "resting-place." Tradition say's "machay" means "caves", which are in the area that were worshiped. Tambomachay is also known as "Ba�o de la �usta" (Bath of the �usta) or "Balneario Inca" (Incan Watering Place). Tambomachay is considered one of the Indian temples of the first Antisuyo ceque. According to ancient chronicles, it was considered to be the game preserve of the Inca Yupanqui. We were at Tambomachay at about 3:50 PM on the afternoon of March 21, 2011.