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| Machu
Picchu, em Quechua (língua falada pelos antigos Incas e ainda hoje
por grande parte do povo nativo do Peru e da Bolívia) significa
montanha velha é o nome dado a esse impressionante e muito bem conservado
conjunto de ruínas Incas, hoje visitada por estudiosos do mundo
inteiro que tentam justicar a sua existência, suas formas, sua arquitetura
e seu propósito foi reconhecida pela Unesco como patrimônio
cultural da humanidade. |
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Amidst
the Peru mountains, sleeping 2,500 meter above the sea level,
there is the inca city of Machu Picchu. The American explorer
archeologist Hiram Bigham visited the city for the first time
in 1911 and found the ruins of its magnific constructions. In
the following year, heading an expedition sponsored by the National
Geographic Society and Yale University, they began the systematic
study of the city.
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Machu
Picchu (on 20 hectares) is divided in several quarters separated
mostly by the central esplanade.
We
recognize the religious buildings and the houses inhabited by
notables for the stones which are perfectly joined. For the other
houses (the farmer's for example) Incas used soil bricks (lime
and soil) between stones more roughly cut. Walls were inclined
toward the inside so they could resist earthquakes.
Notice
that these very huge walls were covered only with fragile roofs
made of rush and reed.
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At
last you will notice that, from the top of the mirador, the whole
Machu Picchu site is green but below everything becomes gray.
From
the mirador, that dominates the whole site, you will have the
most beautiful view. Behind the mirador ends the Inca's Trail.
On the way back, going through the main door of the citadel, you
will notice the ingenious closing system: the stone ring above
and the two handles in the holes on the sides.
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The
Fountain Streets
An incredible street composed of a series of little basins arranged
in a row. These fountains were without any doubt used for ritual
ablutions. They worked for longtime until the water was derived
for the Turistas Hotel! - In that place, you can see better the
different quarters, separated by the big grass esplanade where
eats the last Machu Picchu alpaca. Why the last? Because all its
partners imported like it from the Altiplano (at 4.000 m and more)
are dead because of... the grass, too tender here at 2.500 m !
They are used to eat hard grass, the teeth of these poor alpacas
fell off, and they got different diseases. Just one of them has
survived, nobody knows why!
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The
intiwatana
In the extension of the temples, through several stairs, you arrive
to the astronomic observatory, the higher point of the town, and
the most mysterious.
On
the entry of the platform there is the sundial (on the right of
three small steps), a fine and very strange rock rises. Look at
it closer: the rock represents exactly the same shape of the surrounding
mountains, reproducing them in a very accurate reduction . From
the Wayna Picchu, compare these mountains one by one.
The
central "table" is surmounted with an angular stone with precise
geometric forms: it's the solar calendar. Its shadow, projected
over the multiples table angles let the Inca astronomers make
their astronomical calculations. It's one of the most rare ones
that have remained, because Spanish never found it .
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The
Industrial Quarter
This quarter is located at a higher level of the prisons group.
The presence of mortars in one of the large rooms makes us think
that this area was dedicatedto the handcraft and domestic activities.
By the way, notice the number of niches and projecting stones.
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Nas
montanhas do Peru, adormecida a 2.500 metros sobre o nível do mar, está
a cidade inca de Machu Picchu. O explorador Hiram Bigham a visitou pela
primeira vez em 24 de julho de 1911 e encontrou as ruínas de suas magníficas
construções. No ano seguinte, à frente de uma expedição patrocinada
pela National Geographic Society e pela Universidade de Yale, iniciou-se
o estudo sistemático da cidade, tornando-se hoje o sítio arqueológico
mais conhecido da América do Sul, embora pouco se saiba de sua
história, pois nada é mencionado nas crônicas dos conquistadores espanhóis.
Machu Picchu não é somente uma jóia da
arquitetura inca, mas também a suprema expressão da obra do homem em
harmonia com seu meio ambiente, uma cidade situada sobre a encosta que
se ergue de um rio turbulento, rodeada pelo intenso verde selvagem das
montanhas escarpadas, que passou inadvertida durante séculos, até
sua descoberta para o mundo pelo professor Hiram Bingham.
Machu
Picchu is not only a jewel of the inca architecture, but also a supreme
expression of the work of men in harmony with the environment , a city
located on the top of a slope that rises from a turbulent river, surrounded
by the intense wild green of steep mountains, that has come unnoticed
throughout the centuries, until its discovery to the world by professor
Hiram Bingham.
Machu
Picchu is without any doubt, the most spectacular pre-Columbian monument
of South America, for the importance of its constructions as for the
incredible splendor of the site; even, it has become cultural patrimony
of the Humanity.
Machu
Picchu is at 12 km from Cuzco by the Andean train, an epic trip for
itself... Bellow the ruins, a minibus will drive you to the site itself,
at 2.350 m of altitude.
Machu
Picchu hasn't lost anything of its mystery: was it a fortress installed
to prevent an invasion of Amazonian tribes, was it a religious capital
or just a place of cult dedicated to the sun, was it the last refuge
of Sun Virgins, or the last Inca's capital? They say that Manco Capac,
the last Inca king, wanted by the Spanish, hid there. And Pizarro never
found the location of Machu Picchu. This can be explained easily: Machu
Picchu is on the top of a mountain, cut in such a way that the site
is perfectly invisible from the valley.
In
the entry, before the cultivated terraces, you can see the ingenious
irrigation system. Arable soil was brought from the valley.
The
Royal Tomb
Just bellow the citadel door. A cavern bellow the central tower which
was maybe an Inca tomb. Note that the steps and the niches carved in
the rock. The central tower has a horseshoe shape (torreon) that we
will find often on the Inca's sites.
In
this side, between the fountains street and the Three Windows Temple,
you will find the Inca's house, with its indoor patios. You can recognize
it also for the type of the stones, especially well cut and with the
remains of a mortar. Just above de northern stair (which limits the
esplanade on one side) is the house of the priest, the beginning of
the religious quarter. Behind, is the sacred place, surrounded by two
other buildings: The 3 Windows Temple, which is the only one with megalithic
construction, and the great temple which, like in Pisac, presents 7
niches on the fond. Going along the left side of the great temple, you
will find one of the most curious buildings of the site: the sacristy
where priests got ready is called also chamber of the ornaments. On
the wall du fond, there are trapezoidal niches and a huge stone banquette.
One of its presumed uses could have being to the "drying" of mummies,
before placing them in their sepultures. In fact, the humid weather
of this region risked making them turn rot. The right entry wall proposes
the famous 22 angles stone.
The
Prisons Quarter
It's a place in two levels where Bingham found sepultures. To notice
on the floor a huge flat stone that makes us think of the shape of a
condor, with the head towards the sunrise. This could have being a place
for sacrifice: a small canal goes through the floor so blood could feed
the Earth, a divinity for the Incas. The rooms near the big rock have
been baptized (without having many proofs) s Chamber of Tortures.
The
Intellectual and Accountants Quarter
In the extension of the Industrial Quarter. A group of houses with a
quite simple architecture, followed by a group of Three Gates. The presence
of rooms without windows let suppose that it could be the place where
lived women, or the Virgins Temple.
(Source:
site inkatour.com)
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