ATTENTION: CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM
ILLUSTRATES Paul Torino
It was a citadel of the Inca Empire, which lasted from 1438 to 1533 and occupied, at its peak, an area from northern Chile to southern Colombia. Located 110 km from the capital, Cusco, Machu Picchu probably served as a mixture of astronomy center, place of worship and country house of Emperor Pachacutec.
It was hidden in a steep mountain, surrounded by higher peaks, in the transition zone between the Andes and the Amazon. This is an area with many clouds, known by Peruvians as “the eyebrow of the jungle”. Because of this, it remained isolated from the Spanish conquerors.
In the following centuries, only locals knew of its existence. In 1911, the American archaeologist Hiram Bingham found it and presented it to the world. Since then, Machu Picchu has become one of the most iconic places on the planet.
calendar on stone
The Intihuatana served to indicate the solstices and equinoxes, based on shadow markings made by the Sun. When it reached its maximum point, it was the winter solstice (June). From then on, the days became longer, which served to organize the cycles of agriculture.
sky square
In the Holy Square were the Temple of the Three Windows, the Main Temple and the House of the High Priest. Connected to Intihuatana by a staircase, it was the privileged center for celestial observation
little houses
The rooms where Pachacútec, the ninth Inca emperor, probably stayed when he came to the city correspond to the Royal Sector of Machu Picchu. The Common Quarter was the area where the workers lived.
Faith that moves mountains
Machu Picchu occupies the entire top of the mountain of the same name, at an altitude of 2,350 m. Specialists believe that the hill was sacred, due to the peculiar geography of the scenery, with the Vilcanota river embracing it, 300 m below. One theory says that the mountain was part of a sacred route to Lake Titicaca, the cradle of the Inca civilization, according to mythology.
What a view!
At Huayna Picchu (2,720 m), the Incas built a trail to the top, as well as terraces and temples
Water crisis?
The water supply was guaranteed by a 749 m channel connected to a spring. It fed 16 interconnected sources
no pull
The Incas fitted together huge blocks of stone without mortar, using tools to polish edges and assemble the puzzles. This architecture is earthquake proof: if the earth shakes, the blocks dance, and then return to their original place. How the Incas transported rocks from the mountains is still a mystery.
genius astronomers
The Temple of the Sun was an astronomical observatory. On the winter solstice, the Sun rises exactly in a crack in the mountains, illuminating the temple window. In the summer solstice (December), it rises at the Porta do Sol, where you arrive in Machu Picchu when making the famous Inca Trail
Daily
The urban area had houses, temples, mausoleums and squares. The agricultural area had terraces and enclosures for storing food. The terraces served both for cultivation and for draining rainwater.
Numbers
106 thousand m² of built area
250 levels (40 in the urban area)
172 buildings
1,200 inhabitants
myth debunked
The citadel was not a total mystery. Not for Peruvians. Hiram Bingham arrived at it thanks to the help of locals, who knew it as Picchu. At the time, three families lived there. Bingham was delighted, but wanted to find another city, Vilcabamba. Located 47 km to the west, it was the emperor’s last refuge. With Bingham’s confusion, Machu Picchu ended up inheriting, erroneously, the title of last Inca city.
READ TOO
– Who were the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs?
– What happened in the secret city of Machu Picchu?
Consultancy Patricia Temoche Cortez, a researcher at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and author of Brief History of the Incas
Sources Book Andean architecture, by Adine Gavazzi; MachuPicchu.gob.pe and Unesco sites