Skip to main content

Secondary sourcePhotograph7 September 2018

Ransom Room Under Protective Cover, Cajamarca

Catatine · 7 September 2018

A modern photograph of the preserved ruins of the room where Atahualpa was held captive, now covered and protected for visitors.

This is the site where Atahualpa was held captive after his capture by Spanish forces.

Ask Atahualpa about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Stone ruins of the Ransom Room in Cajamarca under a large white protective tent-like cover. Visitors stand behind a rope barrier on a raised walkway near a doorway in a cut-stone wall, while rock floor and stone steps lie in the foreground.
Ransom Room under protective cover and barrier, Cajamarca, Peru. Photograph by Catatine, 2018.

About this source

What it is

This 2018 photograph shows the ruins of the Ransom Room in Cajamarca, Peru, protected under a large cover with a visitor barrier. The site is associated with the imprisonment of Atahualpa.

Why it matters

The Ransom Room is linked to the capture of Atahualpa by Spanish forces under Francisco Pizarro, a turning point in the fall of the Inca Empire. The preservation of the site shows its continuing historical importance, though this image only shows its modern condition.

Look closer

  • Why do you think this site has been covered and protected?
  • What can and cannot be learned from visiting a modern preserved ruin like this?
  • How does tourism affect the way history is remembered?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Atahualpa on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Atahualpa sources

Meet the AI Atahualpa →
Black-and-white ink line drawing with a bold Spanish caption across the top reading Conquista and Atahualpa, Ciudad de Caxamarca. A robed friar with a cross faces a kneeling Inca man, while a crowd of Spanish soldiers with spears and Andean figures fills the scene.Painting

Secondary source

Atawallpa Pizarro tinkuy

Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala · 1532 (depicted); drawing later

A bound manuscript volume lies open in a glass case on a white pedestal, showing two pages with handwritten Spanish text and a pen-and-ink drawing of figures with a Spanish-style scene at left. A numbered tag reading 35 sits beside it. Colorful graphic wall art surrounds the case.Book

Primary source

El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno

Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala · c. 1615

Pen-and-ink drawing titled 'Conquista', showing Spanish soldiers in armor and helmets with a seated Inca ruler being executed. A bearded, feathered Spanish figure stands at left; a figure with a cross and sword stands center; a headless body lies on the ground below, with a severed head held at right. Caption text at the bottom is in Spanish.Painting

Secondary source

Muerte de Atagualpa Inca

Felipe Huaman Puma de Ayala · c. 1615

A stone building with a low tiled roof and a small doorway at its base, its pale stone-block walls lit by sunshine under a blue sky. Rough rock slabs lie in the foreground.Artifact

Secondary source

Ransom Room

Book

Secondary source

Suma y Narración de los Incas

Juan de Betanzos · 1551

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Atahualpa now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions