Macchu Picchu - Perù - The Sacred Mountains - Travel & Discover

The Andes, the South American mountain range, has always played an important role in the development of the continent's culture and people. This impressive geography and the enigmatic archaeological remains of all the ancient civilizations developed in Peru, along with the humanity and sensitivity of its people, make for an unforgettable experience. At 2,400 meters above sea level and nestled on a small hilltop, the majestic city of Machu Picchu soars above the Yorubamba valley below. The abundance of sacred elements found in Machu Picchu confirms the conviction that the Incas built the sacred city as a place of pilgrimage, a sanctuary. The Incas had a cosmological vision of existence, according to their myths and legends, and in everything that they consider sacred. The word huaca was connected to the term sacred and had a range of meanings. A huaca could be a sacred thing, a temple, a consecrated place, things that seem to exist out of their natural order, remarkable things because of their exceptional beauty or excellence. Lots of visitors still arrive in the sacred city by the Inca Trail, one of the world's most famous hiking trails. Starting from the sacred valley of the Yorubamba River and ending at the breathtaking ruins of Machu Picchu, the 45-kilometer trail takes three to five days to complete. Visitors are free to wander through the ruins at leisure in Machu Picchu. The place is known worldwide not only for its impressive and unique ruins, but also for its unusual location on the edge of an abyss from which one can peer down upon the savage waters of the Yorubamba River. The animals found in Peru are extremely diverse and differ from region to region. Various animals inhabit the area of Machu Picchu, and one of the rather unique creatures visitors see is the alpaca. One of the most important spots at Machu Picchu can be experienced by hiking to the funerary rock hut. The sanctuary is a citadel made up of palaces and temples, dwellings and storehouses. But above all of buildings which clearly fulfill ceremonial religious functions, the more luxurious and spectacular components of which are mausoleums carved into the rock. Separated into three areas, agricultural, urban and religious, the structures are arranged so that the function of the buildings matches the form of their surroundings. All the buildings in Machu Picchu follow the classic Inca architectural style. Buildings with irregular walls, perfect joints between the stone blocks and the gentle slope, making the base slightly wider than the top. Gates with a trapezoidal shape and niches and sculptures are used as part of the architectural design and decoration. The urban section is composed of 172 premises of the most diverse shapes and sizes, connected by 109 stairways which allowed the Incas to traverse Machu Picchu's uneven terrain. The builders of Machu Picchu must have worked hard to achieve an architectural equilibrium with such an unusual and complex environment. Materials from the surrounding area such as stone blocks were used to build the citadel. The construction itself required a level of architectural planning unparalleled for that time. Because of its location, strategically established for its protection. Because of the number of temples and their architectonic quality. Because of the small amount of canchas, which are apartments for extended families. And because of the several characteristics that Machu Picchu presents. Originally, it was a regional power center, dependent from Cusco. That is, it was a small religious and political capital. One of the most fascinating and enigmatic sectors in Machu Picchu is the condor, located toward the southeast of the mortars. The temple of the condor forms something like a labyrinth. On the floor of the temple is a rock carved in the shape of the condor's head and neck feathers, completing the figure of a three-dimensional bird. The temple of the condor in Machu Picchu is a breathtaking example of Inca stonemasonry. It's argued that two types of punishment existed here, and that the niches with small holes on their jams that are found over the condor's left wing served for tying the hands of those punished. Under the sun temple, there's an interesting small cave known as the Royal Tomb. It was named by Bingham, who believed that it could shelter the mummy of a nobleman from Cusco, or possibly that of an Inca. Without any doubt, that small cave must have been related to the Ucupacha, the underground world, and the cult of dead people. In the Incan society, water was always considered as a special deity. Therefore, there were normally fountains and reservoirs for its cult. Tourists and the early explorers describe similar emotions as they make their way through the Machu Picchu area. Many call the experience magical. Glancing out from the funerary rock hut on all the temples, fields, terraces, and baths seems to take you to another time. Built around a natural rock feature, the Tower of the Sun was roughly shaped like a horseshoe and has a trapezoidal window in it, which appears to have been placed there to enable observation of the midwinter solstice. Machu Picchu is located at the mouth of the Cuscanian-Amazonian jungle, so the chance of rainfall is latent at any time of the year. For this reason, there's a varied environmental condition in this area that's given rise to a very diverse and wide-ranging flora from that of the closed forests and the thinly vegetated mountain summits. The Machu Picchu reserve is made up of diverse species of trees, ferns, grasses, mosses, and underbrush plants. On the northern end of the Sacred Plaza is the Temple of Three Windows, which only has three walls, and when in use, it had a two-slope roof. The view from Machu Picchu's Sacred Plaza makes one appreciate the superb craftsmanship of the Incas. Surrounding the Sacred Plaza are the most important buildings of the city. The main temple is an example of excellent Inca stone masonry, with its large stone blocks polished smooth and joined perfectly. The Inca used no mortar to hold their walls in place. They relied upon precisely cut stones, geometry, and female and male joints in the corners and foundations. It's evident that Machu Picchu was a carefully planned construction, meticulously designed to match the natural environment. It's the result of a mixture of unique experiences, where the work of human beings marvelously blends with the work of nature. The uneven topography was cleverly transformed into terraces with agricultural and urban functions. The site embraces at least two dozen rocky outcrops, which form a large area that mimics the surrounding landscape. The Intiwatana at Machu Picchu, known as the Hitching Post of the Sun, is a carved rock pillar whose four corners are oriented toward the four cardinal points. The Inca were accomplished astronomers and used the angles of the pillar to predict the solstices. The Intiwatana stone has been shown to be a precise indicator of the date of the two equinoxes and other significant celestial periods. Many people today feel that Machu Picchu is one of the Earth's magnetic focal points and carries an inherent spiritual or metaphysical power. The Incas, masterful builders and architects, were fascinated by stairs. Their temples looked like giant staircases. Farming was done through an elaborate terrace system. They were masters at building the steep and narrow Inca trail and invented the floating stairs. It's impressive how the entire area was adapted to the shape of the natural hill. Surrounding the hill, there are many narrow terraces that weren't necessarily used for farming but served to stop erosion and protect the Intiwatana. Those narrow terraces were nearly always used as gardens too, but with an ornamental purpose. Across the central plaza and at the far end of Machu Picchu is the sacred rock, an object common to almost every Inca village. The residential and urban sector houses the most important constructions of any Inca city where one can appreciate the talent, effort and quality of the pre-Hispanic builders as the constructions are entirely made of granite, a very hard rock that's different from that used in Cusco. Machu Picchu is without doubt one of the most important archaeological wonders of the world, not only because it was built on a mountain ridge that's reached only with great difficulty, but also because it's one of the few urban projects that merges perfectly with its natural surroundings.