All language subtitles for Incas.The.Rise.and.Fall.S01E04.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH

[Narrator] The Incas,

an extraordinary civilization.

The Incas left behind
monumental and intricate traces

of their genius.

But the story
of these great people

from their epic rise
to sudden fall

remains shrouded in mystery.

[Expert 1, dubbed]
The fall of the Inca Empire

is a brutal collapse that
is surprising and unexpected.

[Narrator] What traces
of the Spanish conquest

are still visible
in Peru today?

[Expert 2, dubbed] And just
as he falls, like that,

he's looking up at the sky,

and a projectile
pierces his skull.

[Expert 3, dubbed]
The Andean population fell

from 10 million
to 1 to 1.5 million.

It was a huge massacre.

[Narrator]
Thanks to scientific advances

and ultra-realistic,
computer-generated images,

we’re going to bring this
lost civilization back to life.

[Expert 1] Advances in
archaeology have truly

revolutionized our understanding
of Inca history.

[Narrator] This is
the extraordinary story

of the fall
of the Empire of the Sun.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

At the start of
the 16th century,

the Inca Empire
was at its height.

A powerful administration
run by Emperor Huayna Cápac.

This all-powerful emperor
governed

his 12 million subjects
with formidable efficiency,

utilizing a system
of compulsory labor.

The capital, Cusco, was
a dynamic and prosperous city

organized around palaces,
a large plaza,

and its Coricancha temple.

Here the wealth
of the empire amassed.

Wild landscapes were tamed
by colossal stone walls.

Natural resources
were exploited

and countless llama farms,
agricultural terraces,

and intelligent
irrigation systems

allowed food to grow
in abundance.

But just 30 years later,
in a matter of months,

the entire empire collapsed.

[Nino del Solar Velarde, dubbed]
It's impressive the Inca Empire

collapsed or disappeared
in such a short time.

[Narrator] To understand
this sudden fall,

we need to look at the legacy
of the last great Inca emperor.

In the first part
of the 16th century

before the arrival
of the conquistadors,

Huayna Cápac reigned
ruthlessly,

expanding his territory,

and imposing an authoritarian
regime on his people.

Local rebellions
were suppressed

with extreme violence
and even cruelty.

This reign of terror,

which marked the last
decades of the empire,

would culminate
in the biggest crisis

the Incas had ever faced.

[César Itier, dubbed]
The Spanish arrived at a time

of widespread internal conflict,

without which they probably
wouldn't have gained

a foothold in the country.

Perhaps if they'd arrived 10
years later or 20 years earlier,

the conquest wouldn't
have taken place

or would have taken place
much later.

Who knows?

[Narrator] For it to be such
an opportune moment

for the Spanish, there must
have been a major conflict

agitating the empire.

[Itier] The Spanish arrived
in Peru at a time

when a very, very serious
succession crisis had erupted.

[Narrator] When the previous

emperor died,

he left many sons,

two of which,

Huáscar and Atahualpa,

were at war with each other

in a fight for power.

[Itier] Every time a king dies,

the question
of succession arises.

Because in this system,
there is no right of succession

that goes directly
to the eldest.

All the Inca sons are
capable of taking power,

provided they can demonstrate
their capacity as warriors,

their strategic
and political capacity,

and their ability
to retain power.

[Guillermo Cock Carrasco,
dubbed] And the war between

Huáscar and Atahualpa was not
a war between two brothers,

it was a war between
two positions

that had different
visions and policies

on how to run the empire.

[Narrator] The fraternal war
took on the appearance

of a civil war.

Each brother had fighters
who were at war

in different parts
of the country.

In 1532, the tensions
reached a peak.

Atahualpa took the throne

from his brother.

[Itier] Atahualpa had known
about the Spanish

for several years.

The first Spanish voyage
to Peru was in 1527.

There was a second, and it
wasn't until the third voyage

in 1532 that the conquest
took place.

Peruvians knew they existed,
but they didn't know exactly

where they came from
or what they wanted.

[Narrator] What they wanted was
revealed a few months later

in Cajamarca,

a small mountain town
in northern Peru,

where the Incas faced one of
the most crucial confrontations

in human history.

[Sandra Cerna Merino, dubbed]
The Plaza de Armas,

which has existed
for several centuries,

witnessed one of the most
important events

in Peruvian, American,
and even world history.

[Narrator] In this square,
in the autumn of 1532,

came the unlikely
meeting of two worlds.

On one side, Pizarro,

the leader of 200
Spanish conquistadors.

On the other,
Emperor Atahualpa,

accompanied by thousands of
nobles in traditional dress.

A clash between an emissary
of Christianized Europe

hungry for conquest and gold,

and an Inca chief perceived as
a demigod of the Andean people.

[Itier] This was
the pivotal moment

in the European colonization
of South America.

[Narrator] When Pizarro's army
summoned the Inca emperor

to meet him, Atahualpa did not
know what to expect.

It had been five years

since the small group
of conquistadors

had disembarked in the Andes,

and began pillaging the
populations in search of gold.

He was relaxing in
the hot baths outside the city

when the invitation arrived,

and he was intrigued.

[Itier] Atahualpa was curious,

but he was aware
of the acts of violence

committed by the Spanish
against Inca officials

and the local population.

His idea was probably
to impress them, to scare them,

and then perhaps massacre them
to get rid of them.

[Narrator] A meeting
was scheduled

for the following morning,
in this square in Cajamarca.

[José Bello Espinoza, dubbed]
When Pizarro arrived,

he didn’t find many people
in Cajamarca.

[Itier] The city, like other
administrative centers,

was almost empty
for most of the year.

There were only
a few civil servants

who worked there all the time.

[Espinoza] The Incas are
intrigued by these visitors.

They're tall, white and bearded,

and they’re curious
to know who they are.

[Merino] The Inca emperor
shows up without a soldier,

without his general, but he is
accompanied by a whole entourage

of dancers amid
flowers, feathers.

[Espinoza] When Atahualpa
arrived, with all his people,

all his entourage,

he saw there weren’t many
people in the square.

In fact,
the Spanish were hiding.

[Merino] A few were waiting
for him in the square,

but most were hidden
with their cannons.

[Narrator] The Incas were
caught off guard.

[Espinoza] Atahualpa thought
he could easily overwhelm them.

But what he didn't realize
was that they were there

with a very specific intention,

with their advanced technology,
firearms and animals,

which were also
used as weapons.

[Narrator] The stalemate
took a turn

when the priest accompanying
the conquistadors

handed a bible
to the Inca emperor.

[Merino] Let's not forget that
the Inca couldn't read

and didn’t know what writing
was, let alone books.

[Itier] Atahualpa took it,
glanced at it quickly,

and returned it with contempt,

perhaps throwing it
to the ground.

[Merino] And that,
for the Spanish, is heresy!

In the name of the church,
the kings, and the conquest,

everyone comes out of hiding
and an ambush breaks out

against the Inca
and everyone around him.

[Espinoza] The population
was frightened

and started running in panic.

[Narrator] The ambush turned
into a massacre;

a bloodbath that killed
thousands of Inca.

On the Spanish side,

the conquistadors didn’t
lose a single man.

But the historic takeaway
of the battle is how it ended,

with the capture of the emperor
of the Sons of the Sun.

[speaking Spanish]

[Espinoza] This is a crucial
moment for the empire,

because Atahualpa
is the Son of the Sun,

and so is one of the gods.

He is the representation
of God on Earth.

If God falls, no one will be
able to protect the people.

So, the very moment
he's captured,

the Incas are already witnessing
the fall of their empire.

[Narrator] It’s a spectacular
reversal of power.

[Narrator] A few hundred meters
from the square,

researchers and
the local municipality

are carrying out excavations

at an intriguing site buried
beneath modern buildings.

[Merino] When the Spanish
captured Atahualpa,

this is where they
kept him prisoner.

[Narrator] During Inca time,

this place was part
of a large structure

that is still hiding
secrets to this day.

[Espinoza] We want to know
if this is part of a larger

building, like a house
or a religious structure.

Why was this space
originally built?

What function did it have
within the Inca Empire?

And why was it chosen
as a place of detention?

[Narrator] Although he was
held as a prisoner,

the emperor was permitted
to move around the building.

[Merino] During this period,

he learnt to live
with the Spanish.

He also retained some power,

because he wore
his ceremonial clothes

and kept his wives
in this captive space.

He also learned to play chess,

and thought of a thousand ways
to buy his freedom.

[Narrator] It's in this
small rectangular room,

preserved for 500 years, where
one of the most romantic tales

of the fall of the Inca Empire
takes place.

At the emperor's request,

the room is filled
with gold and silver

flowing in from
across the land;

a treasure intended to be
the ransom for his release.

[Merino] Atahualpa realizes
the greed of the Spanish

and knows that the only way
to obtain his freedom

is to pay for it with what
they worship: gold and silver.

For the Incas, gold has
a special meaning,

it has a sacred significance,

whereas for the Spanish,
it has a monetary value.

[Narrator] In this room,
known as the Ransom Room,

a trace remains
of this transaction.

[Espinoza] The emperor raised
his hand and indicated

that the proposed reward
for his release

would go as high as that,

and you can see that
mark on the wall.

[Narrator] The treasures
offered by the emperor

would have reached
the height of this mark.

But his release would
never happen.

In spite of the deal made
with the Spanish,

Atahualpa was executed,

having accepted a conversion
to Christianity

to avoid being burnt
at the stake.

[Itier]
After Atahualpa's execution,

the Spanish quickly
left Cajamarca,

because Atahualpa’s armies
were threatening them nearby.

They left for Cusco.

♪ ♪

[Narrator] How did the Spanish
travel so easily?

Why weren't they slowed down
by the Inca defense lines

built across the empire?

♪ ♪

In the Atacama Desert,

200 meters down

in the heart of the gorge,

lies a defensive site
of the Sons of the Sun.

But the ruins appear as
a residential structure

rather than a military one.

[Marcela Sepulveda, dubbed] It's
a large village that was built

on a strategic high point.

On the one hand, it is naturally
protected by the river canyon,

and on the other,
it has a defensive wall

that protects and
closes off the site.

[Narrator] These kinds of sites,
called Pukara, were designed

to counter rebellions
from local communities.

They served primarily
as a refuge

for threatened populations.

Far from imagining they would
one day be at the mercy

of armed combatants, the Inca's
military defense strategy

fell a long way short
of Europe’s at the time.

[Sepulveda] And so it's not
a fortified site

like you might imagine
a medieval fortress to be,

for example.

♪ ♪

[Narrator] These fortified
villages gave the Incas

no chance against
Pizarro and his army

who easily bypassed them.

The Sons of the Sun had
neither the tactics

nor the infrastructure
to halt the rapid advance

of the Spanish on horseback.

But even in the face of a
non-existent defense strategy,

how could 200
Spanish warriors win

against an army of tens
of thousands of Inca soldiers?

A strength
of the Empire of the Sun

was its impressive army.

[Itier] Among the services
conquered peoples owed

the Inca state
was military service.

It could last 10 years or more.

And so, each small
local community

would provide the Inca army
with people

that would make it grow in
a very, very significant way.

[Narrator] The Incas' army
was large,

but with only
rudimentary equipment.

For weapons, the Inca
used slingshots,

arrows, and large axes.

No match for the Spanish arms.

[speaking Spanish]

[Alex Usca Baca, dubbed]
The Spanish arrived

with a great mastery of weapons.

They had horses
and long guns with them.

A whole military strategy.

[Itier] They had weapons that
would play a crucial role

in battles with Indigenous
troops and armies.

[Baca] And the local people
knew nothing about it.

[Narrator] The Spanish have
a strategic

and military advantage,
but that’s not all.

They also benefited from strong
divisions within the empire.

Some local communities that
were conquered by the Incas

rebelled and joined
the conquistadors.

[Baca] Many ethnic groups saw
the Spanish as saviors.

[speaking French]

[Sepulveda]
The local populations,

who were subjected
to control by the Incas,

to paying tributes
and to being displaced,

sometimes thousands
of kilometers,

also chose to stop supporting
the Inca in some places,

because the Inca regime
was too much to bear.

[Baca] This internal struggle

was an opportunity
for the Spanish.

They took advantage
of the social unrest

to conquer the Inca state
as quickly as possible.

[Narrator] It was in this period
of collapse in November 1533

that the Spanish reached
the imperial capital of Cusco.

♪ ♪

They were stunned.

[Baca] When the Spanish arrived
in the city of Cusco,

they were not only impressed
by the Inca architecture,

they were also amazed
by the roads

that exist in the Cusco valley.

[Itier] The Spanish
were impressed

by the Inca Empire’s prosperity.

On the one hand, by the Incas'
concentrated population

in order to intensify
agriculture,

build agricultural terraces
and irrigation canals,

and on the other hand,

because something that
impressed the Spanish greatly

amassed in Cusco--
gold and silver,

the precious metals that were
almost a monopoly of the Incas

and the capital, where there
were temples full of goblets,

gold statues, and all kinds
of golden objects.

[Narrator] The Coricancha temple
with its statues

and gold ornaments was
quickly desecrated

and stripped by the Spanish.

But a new turning point
was brewing elsewhere.

In 1533, the conquistadors
placed an Inca

as the new head of the empire,

Manco Cápac II.

He was the half-brother

of Huáscar and Atahualpa,

both now deceased.

But he was not

a natural born leader.

[Baca] Manco Cápac II was
used by the Spanish

as a puppet Inca emperor.

That way, once he was appointed,

the Indigenous people
had to obey him.

But this was a Spanish strategy.

[Itier] It wasn't until the
middle of 1534 that the Incas

understood that the Spanish
hadn't just come for gold,

but they’d come to stay.

[Baca] Manco Cápac II realizes
that he is being used

by the Spanish.

And he decides to revolt
against them.

[Alexei Vranich] So one day,
he was able to escape on a ruse.

[Narrator] In 1536,
Manco Cápac II freed himself

from the Spanish.

[Vranich]
And he raised a huge army.

[Narrator] He gathered
more than 30,000 men

who occupied the Cusco hills
and the site of Sacsayhuaman,

the most imposing Inca site
with its big zig-zagging walls.

A recent 3D reconstruction
of Sacsayhuaman

shows a large rectangular
building, likely to be housing,

next to another with
much smaller rooms,

probably for weapons storage.

[Vranich]
Took over Sacsayhuaman,

fortified it, and put
the entire city under siege.

[Narrator]
The siege of Cusco began.

[Baca] They encircled
the whole city

and the whole valley of Cusco.

And they start burning all the
buildings, all of the houses.

[Vranich] And all the Spanish
were down in the city.

[Baca] And that's why in 1536,
totally frightened,

the Spanish thought they
were going to be defeated.

[Narrator] Despite its symbol
of power and impressive size,

Sacsayhuaman was not
suitable for combat.

♪ ♪

In 1537, the siege

created by Manco Cápac II

to fight back against

the Spanish failed.

After a year of fighting,

Cusco was handed over
to the Spanish.

[Itier]
The siege of Cusco failed

because it lasted too long.

And these Inca warriors
were basically farmers

who had to return to their
productive activities.

They had a family to feed,

and they gradually abandoned the
siege, which was lifted in 1537.

[Narrator] The Incas didn't have
the best fighters

to defend the city of Cusco.

But this wasn't the only factor

that led to the empire’s
abrupt fall.

On the outskirts
of Peru's capital, Lima,

the hills of this town are home
to an archaeological treasure.

In the year 2000,

thousands of mummies
were unearthed for study.

Guillermo Cock is
the archaeologist who led

the excavations, which revealed
a crucial piece of information

about the Spanish conquest
that had long been overlooked.

[Carrasco] This cemetery
surprised us,

because it was intact.

[Narrator] These bones belong
to Inca warriors

who died battling conquistadors
for the city of Lima in 1536.

[speaking Spanish]

[Carrasco] We can see from this
sample that most of these bones

have fractures caused
by masses of stone.

More than three quarters,
probably 80% of the skeletons,

have injuries caused by local
weapons, not European weapons.

[Narrator] Forensic examinations
have determined that there were

very few injuries caused
by sharp weapons or guns.

Most were caused by blows
from stone clubs,

which are weapons used
by the people of the Andes.

[Carrasco] This is how we came
to the conclusion

that the conquest was
not the Spanish

against Indigenous populations.

It was the Spanish
with Indigenous people

against other Indigenous people.

[Baca] Although 200 Spanish
initially succeeded

in conquering a large number
of Indigenous people,

these 200 Spanish
were soon joined

by other Indigenous peoples

who were in total disagreement
with the Inca state.

[Narrator] Pizarro, the leader
of the conquistadors,

didn't just rally Indigenous
people to his cause,

he made them fight for him.

The myth of the Spanish, who
managed to bring down an empire

with 200 men,
is beginning to crumble.

During battles, when the Incas
faced the Spanish warriors

and their European weapons,
they were helpless.

[Carrasco] There was
a surprise factor, obviously,

because certain weapons
were unknown

to the local populations.

They didn't know that a sword
could cut off a leg or an arm

with a single blow.

That didn't exist, any more than
there was a projectile

capable of blowing
someone’s head off.

[Narrator] Yet this is what
happened to this warrior.

[Carrasco] This individual dies
in a doubly tragic way.

The mandible is
broken into pieces,

both the upper and lower jaw.

Our reconstruction tells us
that this person received

a blow to the face and
probably died as a result.

[speaking Spanish]

And just as he falls, like that,

he's looking up at the sky,

and a projectile
pierces his skull.

We should have found
the projectile inside.

[Narrator] Surprisingly,
the bullet was not found,

although the skull
has no exit wound.

The explanation is worth
its weight in gold.

[Carrasco]
The likely explanation

is that the projectile
was recovered.

They extracted the bullet.

But why?

Because in 1536, there was
more gold than iron.

Iron was extremely scarce.

[Narrator] When
the conquistadors arrived,

the Inca were not only
killed by bullets.

Another deadly scourge
hit the population.

[Carrasco] The conquest led
to a demographic collapse,

a rapid decline
in the population.

It reduces from 65%, 70%

to 85%, 90%

over a period of 40 years.

The Europeans do not have the
military or numerical capacity.

They don't have enough soldiers

to wipe out local populations
in this way.

So how can this be explained?

[Narrator]
In addition to weapons,

the conquistadors brought
viruses from Europe,

which decimated
the Inca populations.

[Itier]
The Indigenous Americans,

isolated from
the rest of the world,

hadn't developed a defense
against diseases

such as measles,
smallpox and many others

that the Spanish
unintentionally introduced

with devastating effects.

[Sepulveda] Quickly,
the Andean population dropped

from 10 million
to 1 to 1.5 million.

It was a huge massacre.

♪ ♪

[Narrator] Despite
a dwindling population

due to war and disease,
the Inca resistance continued.

In 1537, after the failed
siege of Cusco,

Manco Cápac II did not give up.

He headed to Ollantaytambo,

a city 60 kilometers
northwest of Cusco.

[Vranich] When Manco came down
here not only to prepare this

as a fortress,
but he took advantage

of all the agricultural
terracing

that had been created
here by the Inca.

This was an ideal place
to settle down

and to transform this
into the new headquarters

for his army and
for all his followers.

[Narrator] These fortresses
allow us to unravel

the mysteries
of Inca construction,

with their perfect assembly
of giant monolithic blocks.

[Vranich] I think Ollantaytambo
is probably one of the more

megalithic sites that
you can find in the Andes.

And here they ended up using
a lot of polygonal forms,

but also some other forms that
are a little bit more geometric.

[Narrator] These walls, like
those in Sacsayhuaman or Cusco,

captivate visitors.

Some have even proposed
bizarre theories,

such as alien involvement,

to explain how a civilization
without wheels or metal tools

could have constructed them.

The first mystery
is transportation.

These stones come from a quarry
several kilometers from here,

on the other side of a river.

[Vranich]
When it gets to the river,

we don’t know how they got them
across the river.

All the way from the quarry,

they were dragged
up to this location.

We have specially prepared ropes
that they could have dragged

these stones down using ropes,
a lot of people, and so on.

[Narrator] As well as ropes,
wooden logs could have

been used to drag
the stone blocks over.

But above all, the task
would require power.

Up to 20,000 laborers
would have been needed.

Once the stones arrived,
how could the blocks

have been so precisely carved
without iron tools?

♪ ♪

[Vranich] The Inca were
incredible stonemasons,

and they used stones
of different sizes

to reduce these blocks.

You can see that here it was
used with large hammer stones

to reduce it.

Smaller here, more accurate.

But what's special here
at Ollantaytambo

is the precision of the joints.

Right here.
The smoothness is, is unique.

[Narrator] These joints,
which are assembled

with millimeter precision,
still amaze today.

How would this be technically
possible for the Inca?

[Vranich] There were mentions,
both by chroniclers

and later people, of the Inca
using some type of mortar

that would have been
used to grind down,

some sort of fine sand,

perhaps mixed with some
other organic materials.

Some claim that this mortar

would have disappeared
afterwards.

This has been almost
the stuff of legend,

but more recent studies are
looking to see if, in fact,

certain types of mortars

and certain types of organic
materials can soften slightly

the surface of the stone
to allow this type of polish.

[Narrator] The abrasive nature
of the mortar would allow

the stones to fit together
like jigsaw pieces.

Despite their ingenuity,
the walls of Ollantaytambo

wouldn’t be enough to keep the
fighting Sons of the Sun safe.

[Narrator] In 1537,
after months of siege,

Manco Cápac II,

the last Inca chief,

was once again forced to flee

in the face of Spanish attacks.

[Baca] After his defeat,

Manco Cápac II had no choice

but to take refuge

in the Vilcabamba jungle.

[Narrator] In the jungle,
Manco Cápac II

is joined by the Inca elites

who are resisting
the Spanish colonizers,

including those who occupied

the majestic site
of Machu Picchu.

[Dominika Sieczkowska]
Thanks to radiocarbon dating,

we will be able to establish
that possibly the site

was abandoned after the Spanish
arrived to, to this zone

and the people moved
somewhere else.

[Narrator] The mountaintop city,
perched 2,430 meters high,

had avoided the attacks that
shook Peru during the conquest.

Built by the great-grandfather
of Manco Cápac II,

the megalithic treasure
of the Andes

was not designed
as a military site.

For a century, it served as a
second home for the Inca elite,

an agricultural site,

an astronomical observatory,
and a sanctuary.

Perhaps the Spanish never
knew of its existence.

[Alicia Fernández Flórez]
Fortunately, the topography

of the area prevented them
from reaching Machu Picchu

and subjecting it
to the same fate as Cusco,

where the layout was
completely different.

[Narrator] At the start
of the conquest,

the Spanish came in search
of a mythical city

of gold and riches.

[Denise Pozzi-Escot, dubbed] It
is said that the Spanish arrived

in search of El Dorado, but once
they arrived in America,

they discovered that not
all the gold they dreamed of

existed there.

[Narrator] The conquistadors
mainly found gold in mines.

Beyond Cusco,
there was no other city

where gold and wealth were
ostentatiously displayed.

In 1533, when the Spanish
arrived in Pachácamac,

they set about searching
for treasures.

[Pozzi-Escot] They stay here
for six months looting the site,

which is why it’s full of holes.

They're destroying the temples
in search of gold

that didn’t exist in the
quantities they were hoping for.

[Narrator] And here,
the Spanish didn't just loot

material goods.

In 2016, archaeologist
Rocio Villar Astigueta

discovered the scars of the
abuses of the conquistadors,

etched into the ground.

[Rocio Villar Astigueta, dubbed]
On the surface of the ground,

we can see an accumulation
of ash and burnt earth.

There are even
fragments of coal.

[Narrator] These are the organic
remains of a fire

that burnt 500 years ago.

[Astigueta] The red earth tells
us where the fires occurred.

It’s the clay that, when burnt,
takes on this reddish color.

So the ashes tell us about
the nature of the materials

that were burnt.

[Narrator] As archaeologists
excavated the zone

around the fire, they made
an astonishing discovery--

thousands of human bones.

[Sarita Fuentes Villalobos,
dubbed] We recovered 10,000

bones in various states.

Complete bones,
like this tibia, for example,

or fragments like these,
from ribs.

[Narrator] The degree
of carbonization and the color

of some of these bones
indicate that the bodies

were already dead and buried
at the time of the fire.

[Villalobos]
Here the combustion is high,

because the material has changed

more than 50%
from gray to white.

[Narrator] To understand,
an investigation

combining archaeology
and forensic medicine begins.

[Villalobos] While excavating,
we identify three fire cores.

[Narrator] Archaeologists wanted
to understand

what these sporadic fires
corresponded to.

[Astigueta] We started to
excavate, and we realized

that there were very
well-defined areas of burning.

And the remains of human bones

were precisely where
the fires had taken place.

[speaking Spanish]

This enabled us to understand
that this mass grave, this fire,

had been maintained
with the specific aim

of burning the bones of people
who had already been buried.

[Narrator] Around 1533,
in one of the most sacred

Inca temples,
thousands of dead bodies

were deliberately exhumed
and set alight.

Manuscripts discovered
near the fires,

written in Spanish,
leave no doubt.

It was the conquistadors

who were responsible
for this massacre.

[Astigueta] This demonstrates
the intention

to destroy sacred beliefs.

I don't know if
the Spanish were aware

of the magnitude of these acts,

because one of the greatest
fears of the Andean people

was that their bodies would
be burnt after they died.

And that’s precisely
what they did.

[Pozzi-Escot]
To plunder the dead

is to violate
an entire religion.

It’s attacking
all their rituals.

These foreigners arrive
and destroy everything.

[Narrator] The conquistadors
sought to destroy Inca beliefs

and impose their vision
of the world on the region.

A new calendar.

A new language.

New rituals.

Even a new god.

[Baca] There have been
many changes

imposed by the Spanish Crown.

Religion, Catholicism,
Evangelization.

And this has greatly, greatly
diminished Indigenous society.

[Narrator]
The fall of the Inca state

spanned more than
three decades,

from the reign
of Manco Cápac II in 1536,

until the fall of the last
resistance fighters.

By 1572, nothing remained

of the administration
of the Sons of the Sun.

[speaking Spanish]

[Baca] When the Spanish
succeeded in capturing

the last Inca emperor,
a new chapter in history began.

The Spanish began to reorganize
Cusco in their own way,

with Spanish decor,
with Western architecture.

[Narrator] The conquistadors set
about methodically destroying

everything that represented
Inca identity.

To achieve this,
they dismantled

the most symbolic monuments,

like the imposing site
of Sacsayhuaman in Cuzco.

[Vranich] They took
the most impressive stone

from Sacsayhuaman
and brought it down

to make doorways and lintels.

And as they continued to build,
this became an open quarry,

and the colonial city
that we see today

is mostly built with the stones
from Sacsayhuaman.

[Narrator]
The Spanish built churches

in almost all Inca cities.

But even when crushed,
Indigenous culture lives on.

♪ ♪

In Cajamarca,
a church demonstrates

how Indigenous and Christian
architecture fused.

♪ ♪

[Merino] When these churches
were being built,

Indigenous peoples were used,

and they began to develop
this European architecture.

And we know there were
no photos, there were no models.

And so their inspiration
for sculpting these faces,

these cherubs that
make up the façade,

as well as these flowers,

came from the flora of Cajamarca
and the Indigenous faces.

[Narrator] Representations
adapted, as did beliefs.

The Feast of the Sun God,

devoutly celebrated
throughout the Inca Empire,

was postponed by the Spanish
for three days

to coincide with the Christian
festival of Saint John.

The Inca religion lived on

by adorning itself
with Christianity.

[Itier] The religion
of the mountains,

which in the Andes is
thousands of years old,

continues to exist alongside
the religion of the saints,

the Virgin Mary and Christ.

[Velarde] These two aspects
have blended harmoniously

to create what Peru is today,
a Peru of mixed origins,

a Peru that owes as much
to its Andean past

as to its Spanish past.

[Narrator]
The Inca Empire itself,

even before
the Spanish conquest,

the legacy of centuries
of different cultures.

[Baca] These pre-Inca cultures
were conquered by the Incas.

We can describe the Inca culture
as the cultural synthesis

of all the advances that
took place across ancient Peru.

[Velarde] The different
societies of Peru

are in many social, economic,
cultural, political,

and religious aspects
founded on the foundations

of pre-Hispanic
religions and customs.

In this sense, it isn't
possible to talk about

the disappearance
of the Inca imprint.

[Narrator] Not only has Peru's
ancient culture

not disappeared, it has become

much more visible
in recent years.

Because the Inca civilization,

known mainly
through the writings

of those who annihilated it,

is now revealing
itself unfiltered,

thanks to technological
advances in modern archaeology.

The mysterious history
of the Inca Empire

is even more captivating.

[Sepulveda] With all
the knowledge we have today,

we can truly consider the Incas
as one of the great,

if not the greatest
civilization of the Andes.

They knew how to innovate
by reappropriating

numerous technologies based on
traditional ancestral knowledge

dating back thousands of years.

[Narrator] Half a millennium
after the fall

of the Empire of the Sun,
its legacy endures.

In certain stones,
in certain gestures,

the mystical breath
of the Inca still lives.

A spiritual imprint.

A monumental imprint.