The cradle of the ancient Chachapoya civilization, the city was overrun by the Incas in the fifteenth century, and decades later, after the Spanish Conquest, was founded once more by the Spaniards with the name of Chachapoyas. The main square andthe narrow pebbled streets that have been preserved until today date back to these times. Some 70 km west lies the fortress of Kuélap, the bastion of the Chachapoya tribe, a citadel whose access is through narrow walled passages like sloping funnels which helped to keep out invaders.