MACHU PICCHU
One of the Seven Wonders of the World, is regarded by its astonishing magnificence and harmonious construction, as one of the archaeological and architectural monuments of the most important planet. Located 2400 meters above sea level in the province of Urubamba, department of Cusco, Machu Picchu was surprised by how the stone buildings are deployed on a hill close and uneven, the edges of a cliff 400 meters deep, formed by the barrel which reaches the Urubamba River. Machu Picchu is a citadel surrounded by mystery because until now archeologists have been unable to decipher the history and function of this stone city of almost one kilometer in length, built by the Incas in a magical area, where Andean and rioja rioja Amazon.
Ate in 1536 was Manko Inca began the war against the Spanish invaders after 8 months of bloody war was defeated. Manko II dissolved his entire army and beat a retreat towards Vilcabamba valley following the route of Chinchero crossing Ollantaytambo where he won his last battle against the Spaniards, and finally entered into the depths of the jungle.
This historical fact conceived in the tradition many popular myths about the possibility of finding the area of "sacred plain or pampa-Willk; Inca treasures that had been taken by Manko Inca in his retirement. Over time it became common to find the area of treasure hunters Manko Inka.
It was that same spirit which prompted Hiran Bingham an American historian to study chronic Peruvian archives and even visit Spain. Thus in 1911 comes to Peru with the aim of studying geology and botany, and safely find the mysterious Valley Willkapanpa.
Bingo came to Cusco on July 23, 1911 where he met a peasant Melchor Arteaga who told him about the existence of two sites named Incas and Machu Picchu Waynapicchu. They decided to examine the area and then climb up where today is the way of the buses. When you reach the top then took the first glance of the Inca buildings that were completely covered with tangled vegetation. That was how Bingham, Machu Picchu encountered, a fortuitous event that is then manifested as a great "discovery."
Today Machupicchu is contemplation of the Quechua people, the admiration of the majestic Andean peoples and the world.
Regarded as one of the most impressive works of engineering that made the man. Was the reason for naming the majestic archeological capital Cusco South America, world heritage and historical capital of Peru.
The National Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu is located in the department of Cusco, the Urubamba province and district of Machu Picchu, on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Vilcanota, which is bounded by the Apurimac and Urubamba rivers. It is located about 2450 meters above sea level. It is in the subtropical zone or of the jungle, the climate in this sector has some characteristics there are only two well defined and distinguished: the rainy season from September to April and the dry season from May to August. However the climate is mild, warm and wet from rain but are latent in any month of the year.
Inca City is built atop a great granite orogenic structure called Vilcapampa. Its formation belongs to the Paleozoic age and is approximately 250 million years. Its exact location is at kilometer 112 of the old rail-Quillabamba Cusco, the train station is located in the town of Aguas Calientes and is at an altitude of 2000 m. From that station there are buses to go to the most famous archaeological site in South America. The whole park has an area of 325.92 km ².
The sanctuary has access to the facilities of our own civilization. But how it was possible to reach this secret city in the days of the Inca man? Machu Picchu was a sacred pilgrimage that was to arrive, prepare the soul and the body because no one could enter the city, had to undergo tests and go "El Inca" a rugged path where the boldest men challenged vertigo during four days and three nights to reach the great Inca fortress, today it can be traveled by anyone who dares to cross it, the reward: seen from the "Intipunco" the most beautiful view of the sanctuary that I greatly astonished many great men.
Entry:
Undoubtedly Machupiccho was a center of worship and ceremonies, with its mysterious altars and temples dedicated to Inca deities. Not for nothing called the "holy city" was built to house a religious and military elite of the time and served as an abode for the Inca or dignitary superior to any of the capital.
Upon entering the sanctuary is located a map showing the various sectors. The journey is long, better to spend a couple of days to know the city, otherwise it may be some important things unseen. Machu name is a compound word that comes from machu which means old, and that means picchu mountain is, Machupicchu is translated as "Old Mountain." Most archaeologists and historians say that was built by the Inca Pachakuteq.
The city of Machu Picchu is divided into two main areas:
The area of land or crop: terraces as large and small steps, some more than 4 meters in height with steps to climb to a terrace where other crops generally made from corn and coca.
Urban areas where people lived. A square divided the buildings in this area into two sectors each face in opposite directions towards the East and West.
Land area:
The farming sector is located after the entrance of the hotel resort and is divided into two groups, high and low group here some cultivation terraces with drainage systems and artificial channels and are just a few of which existed in the region.
On the eastern edge of the terraces there are five buildings that might serve to accommodate the farmers who cultivated this sector, these buildings are known as the "Farmers' Group" or "Foreign Barracks." At the upper end of these terraces is a small room with three walls known as the post surveillance or guardian's home built in a strategic location has a clear view of the Urubamba canyon in two different directions.
Moving on we find the rock carvings and funerary altar serving is supposed to carry out the process of embalming the noble Inca mummies as well as dry stone also had a certain relationship with solar observations. It is from this point where you can appreciate the city in its greatest splendor and completeness. Pilgrims come here because of the road passing by the Intipuncu "or" Puerta del Sol. In the winter solstice, the sunlight is projected exactly towards the "Intipunku" which consists of buildings around the east of Machu Picchu Mountain. South of extensive rock funeral is the largest building in Machupicchu called "Kallanka" or main workshop has 8 access openings on the wall in front and 2 side.
Due to be located near trails, and considering their size and morphology is thought to be due a sort of "Tambo" that served as home to a large number of people.
Turning africola andalusia urban sector there is a great "Dry Moat" that served to protect the citadel of Machu Picchu are very unique as its inhabitants and take the nobility, had a security system is very powerful as the gulf reflects a protection system considered by the architects incas.
Urban:
Crossing the Dry Moat is the Urban Sector which is divided into 3 main areas:
- The Holy Neighborhood: where are the places includes Intiwatana rituals, the Temple of the Sun and the Room of the Three Windows.
- The District of the Priests and the residential area Nobleness
- El Barrio Popular on the south side of town, where the homes of common people.
The Temple of the Sun:
The "Temple of the Sun" was originally a very secure complex. At times only the Inca and Inca priests could use these churches remained closed and therefore protected. With a semi, this temple is of the type known as "Imperial Inka" is faced with rectangular stones with the joints. You can access it through a great double door jamb. In the semicircular wall has two windows, one is directed towards the north, the other towards the east; contemporary scientists believe that these two openings are the largest solar observatory Machu Picchu.a through the window facing the east was possible to observe the winter solstice. Both windows are planning a ribbon cutting fake out from the side that served to support the elements that made solar observations easier.
At the center of the temple is an altar carved in rock, where the ceremonies were done in honor of the sun, animals were sacrificed in the viscera of reading the future or drink "chicha" (maize beer) with his father the Sun
Its back wall is straight and has a window with small holes carved into the threshold is known as the "Window of the Snake." It is believed that these holes may keep hornamentos stone and precious metals.
Under the "Temple of the Sun" is a small cave known as the "Royal Tombs" which they say could hold the mummy of a noble. It follows that the Inca temple was buried under the sun of his father. But undoubtedly the cave should have little related Ukju Pacha (underground world) and the cult of dead people. On the wall are two large trapezoidal niches and two small niches in the wall further. On the floor there is a notch that represents the three levels of the Andean Religious World.
Within the Temple of the Sun, there are two buildings, one known as the Cloister of the Ã'usta.
Due to its location must have had an intimate relationship with the Temple and was possibly the home for Willaq Uma, or High Priest. Across the street in front of the Temple of the Sun there is a "Kancha" or apartment, the only thing in the area is very solid and built with carved stones. There is no doubt that this was the abode of the Inca. The group consists of a bedroom where he slept the Inca, a small compartment that this would be the only bathroom at the time. A room in front is known as the "study" of the ruler and the two small rooms were probably the kitchen and workshop. There is a stone that served as a mill for grinding grain or other food by nearly half of the central courtyard.
LITURGICAL SOURCES
Between the Temple of the Sun and the Royal Palace is the "Calle de las Fuentes. There are 16 Liturgical Fountains, water pumps in the region best known as paqchas. This group of sources or ponds were fed water from a spring located about a kilometer away, so that water flows through different levels.
Society in Inca water was always considered as a special deity, therefore, sources and reservoirs for its cult. The primary source is located in front of a building that has just three walls in Inca architecture was appointed Wayrana, which is supposed to be a ceremonial center where the Willaq Uma (High Priest) had to perform the various ceremonies to worship andalusia water. Today the water flows through these channels, simply because the tourist hotel is using it. Originally, water was brought from springs located behind the mountain of Machu Picchu.
The main temple
It is located north of the Sacred Plaza, has just three walls made of stones with rectangular faces. In the Temple seven trapezoidal niches in its central wall and five on each side wall.
Behind the Temple is a small room that is known as House of Ornaments. This should keep a close relationship with the Temple. At the bottom of the back wall there is a low platform, a seat or bed of stone, built like a "Sacristy" of the temple.
Today, Temple has a central wall that is moved. The archaeological work revealed that movements were due to seepage of rain. The deity to which they worship in the Temple is unknown. However, historians say it could be Wiraqocha the invisible superior god andino.
In front of this temple is a small outcrop of carved stone that some authors say it was a representation of the Southern Cross is not possible to prove that.
The Temple of Three Windows:
Approximately 8 meters in front of the main temple at the northern end of the holy place is the Temple of three windows. formed by only three walls. It has a rectangular plan and its stones are polygonal. In the middle of what would be the front wall there is a single stone pillar that served to support the roof, while the western side is a stone carved with figures representing the three levels of the Andean world: the Hanan-Pacha (the Heaven or spirituality), the Kay-Pacha (land or the mundane) and Ukju-Pacha (basement or interior).
The name comes from the typical trapezoidal windows. Must have been comparatively less important than the Temple. It is presumed that this temple originally had five windows, as it seems that the two windows do not exist today, have been incorporated into the wall once the Temple was built. It is said that the curaca stayed here for almost the whole day, controlling the social organization.
Intihuatana:
Northwest along the route are a long way of 78 narrow and steep stairs going up the "sacred hill", and whose summit is an open courtyard walls finely carved where the famous carved stone called "Intiwatana, lined with several terraces hornamentales and platforms. The hill is a sacred place for the city, seen from afar is shaped like an irregular pyramid interrupted the terraces that surround it served to protect the "Intiwatana.
"Intiwatana" translates as "the place where the sun is tied" or simply "snap of the sun." The day of the winter solstice (June 21) made the Quechuas the "Inti Raymi" or Feast of the Sun this was the largest celebration of the Inca society. On this date, the sun is located at the furthest point from the earth, and the Quechuas believed that his "Tayta Inti (Father Sun) was abandoned. So during the winter solstice ceremony performed by which symbolically tied to the sun is not out, and I thought that from that moment the sun began to spend more time with them.
Its shape is irregular and almost a cubic polyhedron on top has the signs of being stuck. Originally, it must have been finely honed all sides is, it had a smooth surface like glass. Moreover, it must have had other auxiliary equipment for use
Three steps are carved into the rock in the center emphasizes a kind of monolith carved and polished in several planes, which ends in a rectangular prism of 36 cm. high, which is in line northwest - southeast. The vertices are directed towards the four cardinal points. This rock is the centerpiece and largest in a complex system of astronomical measurements as solisticio and equinoccion and to determine the start and end dates of the agricultural seasons, but apparently also was used as a ritual altar.
It is unquestionable that he could also have served as a solar observatory effectively through the shadows of predicting the solstices and equinoxes is to calculate the different seasons and therefore the time of planting and harvesting. Referring to this stone only as a "sundial" or "sun dial" is a misconception by a limited speculation. The Inca and Inca society did not need to measure the day in hours or minutes. To do so, watching the sun's position.
Many scholars argue that the "Intiwatana" was also a directional device, where the angles determining the magnetic north, which would lead to more profound knowledge of astronomical sciences and physics. Some astronomers say that this complex is possible astronomical observations as constellations of the Southern Cross and the Pleiades, very important to the Andean culture. According to archaeologists Cusco, "All these factors argue that the idea of Intiwatana Machupicchu carved in stone, is a hub of great cosmic and ritual and religious significance tonic, clearly associated with some other points down the ceremonial axes in Inca times."
Local studies indicate that Machu Picchu Intiwatana is closely related to an imaginary line or ceque observatories, temples and ceremonial and urban centers.
The Holy Rock:
Andalusia Intihuatana Download the northwest is the "Sacred Complex. This is a small square with two very similar structures, one in front of the other. They served as temples or altars for worship. The Sacred Complex "is a natural mountain which many scholars believe it was simply the representation of the mountains.
"The sacred rock" or sacred monolith is supported by a pedestal of stone and its surface is relatively smooth and was possibly also finely polished.
It measures 3 m. height 7 m. pedestal base and 1 to 0.30 m. Its shape resembles that of a sacred cat, puma having apparently fulfilled ritual functions.
To the north of this complex is the path leading to Huayna Picchu is the Southeast and into the main square of the 1911 Bingham ciudad.En found some writings behind this stone. To the north of this complex is the path that leads to Mountain Waynapicchu, the temple of the moon and to the Southeast is the main square of the city.
The main square of Machu Pichu
The main square of Machu Picchu is the largest, is located to the northeast and at the foot of Intiwatana was a place where the ceremonies took popular people perhaps also the "Inti Raymi or Festival of the Sun Near This square is a terrace that had no duty to culture but merely served to match the totally irregular Machupicchu was the only way to achieve flat spaces.
THE DISTRICT OF THREE NEWS
Northeasterly to the main square of Machu Picchu, there are some other types of buildings with walls and rustic mud. Is the most symmetrical and consists of 18 campuses of which 16 are within one and two orthogonal plan outside of the package. Are combined in harmony around three courtyards, large rectangular enclosure with entrances double jamb, two rooms with three walls. Why distribution is not known for sure. There is only speculation. It has different sectors, which are named only as "Alto Group" and "Three Doors or covers." They are attributed to him but apparently functions workshops were only used as a room, warehouse or any other useful feature.
GROUP OF MORTARS or INDUSTRIAL SECTOR
Group Mortars or "Industry" is comprised of 9 precincts within which are double rooms and three walls of the small temple or sacred place is an architectural quality in the walls indicate that it was of paramount importance to the city, all this set is enclosed and is accessible through a double door jamb, which confers higher social status of archaeological sites.
The walls of two meters high, were built with carved stones, although the top was more rough stones. This difference suggests perhaps a construction in two different phases. Inside is a room that has two mortar rounds, both of similar diameter and height. It is believed that these mortars were used to grind various elements, or make pottery or weaving in the "industrial".
However, the mortars do not seem to have indicated that they were much uso.Otros seating deposits containing chicha. It is also suggested that the "mortar" is filled with water to be used as mirrors to astral observations during clear nights, a position that is rejected by astronomers today.
It is both what is known of the Incas, although we know its enormous intellectual development, it is possible that what is now discarded by science as we know, have contents that are not within our reach.
In the rooms of the complex instead of a front wall had a column that supported the roof beams. In this complex there are also some other rooms that have the same quality of stones that seem carved altars.
The condor carved and prisons
One of the most fascinating and enigmatic Machu Picchu is in the "Condor" located to the southeast of the "mortar". which are within the compound with three semicircular niches ceremonial, the three small underground chambers and stone sculpture of a condor head at ground level.
The "Temple of the Condor" is shaped like a maze with 29 precincts where at the bottom there is a sculpture with a granite outcrop in the shape of an Andean Condor. There are two large rocks around it and these are their wings. Obviously this was a shrine built to worship the "Apu Kuntur" (Condor God) this was one of the three sacred animals of the Inca society with the Puma and the Snake and therefore its duty was strictly religious.
Some authors say that this place was the "prison" of Machu Picchu. That this place had perhaps snakes and pumas, to those who were punished had to die inevitably, after these people die, the Condors landing here, and some other birds of prey to devour the remains of fellow punished.
It says here that there are two types of punishment and that the niches with small holes in the doors that are left over from Condor used for tying the hands of those punished.
It is said that most other niches highest in the back wall had a small opening that served for another different punishment: the punishment that was put into a niche with face openings above it only served to breathe and consume their food. In Inca times this sector was complementary to the "Temple of the Condor" and due to its characteristics should be used due to ritual acts and not as a "jail", if so call today.
CEMETERIES upper and lower
These cemeteries are buried, in the form of mummies, as previously described, the people who died of Machu Picchu. The existence of two distinct cemeteries speaks for itself of the existence of at least two social classes. The inhabitants of the empire in general, farmers, warriors and servants, and making up a higher social class composed of priests and nobles. In this cemetery are the niches where the sacred worship of the dead.
Huaynapicchu or Waynapicchu
Waynapicchu Mountain is located north of the town has a height of 2701 meters and is at the bottom of the Machupicchu classical pictures. On its peak there were some terraces that were made to prevent corrosion and to provide gardens. To reach the summit using the path that is located on the left side of the mountain. Going up a long staircase several of its sectors are simply carved into the stone mountain.
Climbing slowly takes about an hour, and is not dangerous but there are several narrow and ascends' to a person who wishes to turn the trip must be very careful because a little carelessness or a wrong step could be fatal. From the top, there is a spectacular panoramic view towards the town of Inca. This is certainly the reward of climbing.
Temple of the Moon Machupichu
Towards the north side is called the Temple of the Moon, which is built on a geological fault. It is an architectural complex in the way that miad scale Waynapijchu on its north side. Builders varied in a cave a large carved with niches and false door embedded in the rock, with a huge entry of 8 meters high and 6 wide. The finish is very fine and amazing location. Theories lead us to believe that should be royal tomb, shrine and observation post.
It is a rectangular enclosure with live rock from the mountain wall, which shows three doors high 1.60 each, plus a sidebar. Inside the walls are six trapezoidal niches. The "temple" itself consists of a large platform under a rock, up to almost 5 meters, and an entry of 8 meters in height. To the left can see five new niches trapezoidal double jamb, one of the finest works of stone that can be found in and around Machu Picchu.
Waynapicchu
Mountain is located north of the town has a height of 2701 meters and is at the bottom of the Machupicchu classical pictures. On its peak there were some terraces that were made to prevent corrosion and to provide gardens. To reach the summit using the path that is located on the left side of the mountain. Going up a long staircase several of its sectors are simply carved into the stone mountain.
Climbing slowly takes about an hour, and is not dangerous but there are several narrow and ascends' to a person who wishes to turn the trip must be very careful because a little carelessness or a wrong step could be fatal. From the top, there is a spectacular panoramic view towards the town of Inca. This is certainly the reward of climbing.
Temple of the Moon:
Towards the north side is called the Temple of the Moon, which is built on a geological fault. It is an architectural complex in the way that miad scale Waynapijchu on its north side. Builders varied in a cave a large carved with niches and false door embedded in the rock, with a huge entry of 8 meters high and 6 wide. The finish is very fine and amazing location. Theories lead us to believe that should be royal tomb, shrine and observation post.
It is a rectangular enclosure with live rock from the mountain wall, which shows three doors high 1.60 each, plus a sidebar. Inside the walls are six trapezoidal niches. The "temple" itself consists of a large platform under a rock, up to almost 5 meters, and an entry of 8 meters in height. To the left can see five new niches trapezoidal double jamb, one of the finest works of stone that can be found in and around Machu Picchu
Machupicchu is considered the jewel of Inca architecture
Is the set of America's most visited monuments. Never had any information prior to its discovery, not included in documents or in the Spanish chronicles from Peru who knew of its existence, Machu Picchu has become a veritable archaeological enigma. His discovery opened only a mystery to most archaeological science.
Machu Picchu is without doubt one of the most important archaeological wonders of the world, not only because it was built in a rugged, inaccessible, but because it is one of the few architectural works that are fully harmonized with the nature of the place. It is clear that these ruins are a jewel of humanity, comparable only with the other seven wonders of the world. Must have been a challenge for the men then build it.
