 The main access route to Ollantaytambo runs along a narrow valley formed in the mountains by the Urubamba River , which connects the site with Machu Picchu to the west and with <unk> and Cusco to the east . After his uprising , Manco Inca fortified the eastern approaches to fend off attacks from the former Inca capital , now under Spanish occupation . The first line of defense was a steep bank of terraces at <unk> , near the confluence of the Anta and Urubamba rivers . Behind it , the Incas channeled the Urubamba to make it cross the valley from right to left and back thus forming two more lines backed by the fortifications of <unk> on the left bank and ' <unk> on the right bank . Past them , at the plain of Mascabamba , eleven high terraces closed the valley between the mountains and a deep canyon formed by the Urubamba . The only way to continue was through the gate of T <unk> , a thick defensive wall with two narrow doorways . In the event of these fortifications being overrun , the Temple Hill , a religious center surrounded by high terraces overlooking Ollantaytambo , provided a last line of defense . 
