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OVERVIEW
Since the discovery of MACHU PICCHU on the 24 th of
July, 1911, by North American Hiram Bingham, it has been
considered one of the world's greatest architectural and
archaeological monuments due to its extraordinary
magnificence and harmonious structure. it is said that
machu picchu has the highest uv levels in the world.
Machu Picchu is linked to the inca trail, the inca trail
is 82 (km) long and starts at C Cusco and ends at Machu
Picchu.
HISTORY
One cannot pinpoint the first to populate these lands,
as it was a time of occupation rather than foundations.
Machupicchu was visited by explorers well before Hiram
Bingham, although with little success. These included
Antonio Raymondi, the Count of Sartiges and Charles
Wiener. Other visits included one in July 1909 by the
Santander brothers, whose inscription can be found
carved into the base of the Temple of the Sun. At the
same time, Peruvian explorers Enrique Palma, Augustin
Lizárraga and Gavino Sánchez arrived at the citadel by
the route of San Miguel.
. The railway line runs parallel to the river in winding
loops that follow the riverbed. From here one can seethe
typical vegetation of the upper jungle, which climbs up
to the top of the steep mountain range that forms the
Urubamba Canyon. The train passes through the Chilca
train station from where one can see the snowcapped peak
called "Veronica". With a height of 5,750 meters above
sea level, it is the highest peak in the Urubamba range.
The train stops at Kilometer 88, where the Inca Trail
begins.
The train then continues on its way, passing through the
station of Pampacahua and the town of Aguas Calientes,
located at Kilometer 110. When the train line comes up
against a wall of imposing granite mountains, it then
plunges into two tunnels before arriving at the station
of Puente Ruinas. From here, minibuses take the
travelers up 8 kilometers of roads up to the Tourist
Hotel. The entry control to the Inca citadel is done
near the hotel.
GUIDED TOURS
The guided tour of Machupicchu starts on a path that
leads from the bus terminal. The path, built on purpose
for tourism, enters the citadel in the section that
houses a cluster of rooms near the outer wall. The path
continues through a terrace to gain access to the
agricultural zone before arriving at the urban area.
ARCHITECTURE
The citadel is divided into two sectors: the
agricultural (terracing) and the urban, where there are
main squares, temples, palaces, storehouses, workshops,
stairways, cables and water fountains which run through
both sectors, which measure 20 and 10 hectares
respectively.
It is clear that the architectural design was based on
Cusco, the capital of the Inca empire. Machupicchu was
built according to its natural surroundings, with its
constructions following the natural curves and dips and
rises in the land.
The archaeological excavation that took place after
Bingham discovered the ruins showed the land was
previously given granite foundations with little
surrounding soil.
The agricultural and urban sectors are split by a dry
ditch, the result of a geographic fault line.
The following chapters describe the most important
constructions in each sector.
THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR
The sector is surrounded by a series of terraces of
different types and sizes which had two main functions:
to grow crops and halt the erosion caused by the rains.
The most eye-catching terraces lie at the entrance to
the citadel. They begin at the cluster of rooms located
at the entrance and climb up to the top of the mountain
until they stop at a large rectangular room.It is clear
that the upper terraces at the entrance were meant for
agricultural purposes as they have raised steps and are
much wider. The lower terraces, meanwhile, have
different shapes because they were built as foundations.
There are no canals as they were not necessary, as the
constant rains and ever-present humidity allowed the
plants to grow without irrigation. The only water
channel that flows through the urban sector crosses
through the central terrace.
In the agricultural sector there are five rooms that
look like Chincheros and Ollantaytambo storerooms.
THE CONTROL GATE
This is made up of a three-walled room with a view with
several windows, which can be found in front of the main
gateway. There is a go panorama from here of the
agricultural and urban sectors and the surrounding
landscape. It is a good idea to take photos from this
angle as it gives the visitor a good view of the
complex.
THE UPPER
CEMETERY AND RITUAL STONES
In every Inca city, the dead were buried on the
outskirts of the town, which is where in this case Cusco
archaeologists found human remains. In the upper part,
they also found sculpted stones that belong to the area,
which indicated the Incas used the stones to make
offerings to their gods. On this same piece of ground
lies a granite boulder sculpted with steps. But the most
striking feature is that it is pierced with a ring, the
purpose of which is unknown. This ritual boulder is very
similar to that of the ńusta-hispana in the Vilcabamba I
ruins. In the upper part one can see a body-shaped spot
as if people had been placed on their backs.
THE URBAN SECTOR
While the agricultural sector is cut short by a dry
ditch, one can see a long stairway that leads to the
front gate.
This 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 is different from that used in Cusco.
The city is U-shaped. In the northern section there is
the great religious sector containing the temples, to
the South there are the houses and workshops on platform
terraces that Bingham called the Military Group. The
main buildings in the Urban Sector are the following:
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THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN
This construction is shaped like a semi-circle and
built on solid rock, an existing granite block shaped to
blend with the natural curves, with a diameter of 10.50
meters. It is composed of highly polished polyhedrons.
There are two trapezoidal windows in this building with
protruding knobs at every comer, and on the north side
there is a carefully-sculpted door with bored holes in
the doorjamb, very similar to the Qoricancha temple in
Cusco. The Spanish historians relate there were once
gold and precious jewels encrusted in the door. To the
West of the temple there is a rectangular patio with
nine ceremonial doorways alternating with prism-shaped
studs. THE INTIWATANA
. This stone is located on a hill made up of several
terraces. The visitor can gain access to the stone via
78 well-crafted steps. At the end of the staircase one
enters an open patio with walls equally well-sculpted,
and where one can see an upper platform where there is a
granite rock sculpted into three steps. In the central
part one can see a rectangular prism that is 36cm high
and which is pointing from North-West to South-East.
Its four corners are directed to the four cardinal
points. The Intiwatana had specific functions: it
measured time (the solstice and the equinox) by using
sunlight and shadow, and also served as an altar. In
Quechua, "Inti" means "sun" and "Wata" means "year",
thereby giving us the meaning of a solar year
observatory.
THE GROUP OF THE SACRED ROCK
The sacred
rock, located in a four-sided spot flanked by two
three-sided rooms, features a monolithic rock sculpture
which is 3cm high and 7m wide at its base. The pedestal,
which is approximately 30cm high, resembles a feline.
From another angle, It looks like the profile of a
mountain near Machupicchu. It is possible that this
cluster of constructions, together with two "Wayranas",
or three-sided rooms, were used for rituals.
THE TEMPLE OF THREE WINDOWS
It is located West of the main square, has a large
rectangular floor. Its name comes from the fact its main
face has three windows and two blind bays. Together with
the main temple, this is the most impressive
architecture in all of Machupicchu. The enormous
polyhedrons have been carved and joined with millimetric
precision.
In front of the Wayrana-style construction, on the large
doorjamb next to the central column that holds up the
roof, there is a sculpted lithograph with carefully
polished molds and flat parts.
MAIN TEMPLE
The temple is located North of the Sacred Square,
very near the Temple of Three Windows. It is built of
three walls and is 11m long and 8m wide.
THE DOORS
Doors are a common sight in Machupicchu and
especially in this sector. They vary in texture, size
and architectural style that set them apart from each
other, although all have the same trapezoid shape. Some
only have one doorjamb and lintel, and some have two.
Some doors are simple and others have different security
mechanisms such as stone rings, central trunks and other
mechanisms which served to tie together beams to make
the doors more secure.
Machu Picchu Peru
THE TOMB
The enormous leaning block of stone that holds up
the Temple of the Sun has a large crack in its bottom
part, which has been exceptionally skillfully decorated
and furnished to be later used as a tomb.
It was also a site of worship and offerings to the
mummified bodies of the main authorities. In the doorway
it shows a carving portraying the symbol of the goddess
Mother Earth. In its interior there are niches,
monolithic pillars and other accessories used for
religious means and to attend the mummies.
THE SQUARES
There are four main squares at different levels, but
share the characteristic of being rectangular in the
classic Inca style, interconnected by sunken stairways
in the parameters of the terraces. The main square is
the largest, which just like the main squares in all
Inca cities, had religious and social functions.
The fourth open area is a square flanked by terraces
with their respective access ways, similar to the 1,000
B.C. Chavin culture.
On July 14, 1911, Hiram Bingham arrived together with a
team of Yale University specialists in topography,
biographies, geology, engineering and osteology, led by
local inhabitant Melchor Arteaga. They asked him about
the city, and he told them it was located on top of an
old peak ("Machupicchu" in Quechua).
Later, in 1914 Hiram Bingham returned to Machupicchu
with economic and logistic backing from Yale University
and the U.S. Geographic Society with the specialists
mentioned above, whose report was published and made
available around the world with the title "The Lost City
of the Incas".
In the original map, Bingham carved Machupicchu into
sectors according to the four cardinal points. Some
names have remained the same, but 76 years after the
discovery of Machupicchu, scientific studies carried out
by archaeologists from the archaeological foundation of
the National Cultural Institute as well as delegations
of foreign scientists, have provided valuable
conclusions about the use and functions of the
buildings. These were based on archaeological
excavations and the architectonic relations between the
buildings with similar construction across the vast Inca
empire.
The periods of occupation have been broken down into the
following, based on historical accounts, construction
style and ceramics:
1. Initial (up to 1,300 A.D.)
2. Classic (up to 1,400 A.D.)
3. Imperial (up to 1533 A.D.)
4. Contact or Transition (1533 to 1572)
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