Tom Holland

This is what you had to do.

It's your kind of ritual thing.

But we paid no attention to what he said and went in.

I mean, presumably this is all through interpreters.

I mean, it's interesting, isn't it, that a lot of the Spaniards, when they come to these temples, describe them as mosques.

Because they're coming from the world of the Reconquista and the Conquista of Granada and stuff.

Yeah.

And so the kind of despoliation of mosques would be very much their bag.

And so they go in.

Another conquistador, Juan Ruiz de Arce.

writes, since Atahualpa had ordered that nothing of his father's should be touched, we found many golden llamas, women, pitchers, jars and other objects.

Are there any golden llamas left or did they all get melted down?

No, I don't think there are.

See, I remember, you know, we were talking about the children's book last time, the children's books that had pictures of Atahualpa's ransom.

It was always golden llamas that were in the pictures for me and sort of images of the sun and things.

The two things that really are memorable from the temple.

So in the intro reading that you did, you mentioned a garden of the sun.

This is from another chronicler, Fiesta de Leon.

In the rear of the cloisters was the garden of the sun where all the flowers, fruits and leaves were of pure beaten gold.

And we know they were because we know that they took one of them to Charles V's court to show him.