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LOCATION
The Machupicchu archaeological complex is located in the
department of Cusco, in the Urubamba province and district
of Machupicchu. It is perched on the eastern slopes of
the Vilcanota mountain range, a chain of mountains curtailed
by the Apurimac and Urubamba Rivers. At latitude 13º7'
South and longitude 72035' West of the Greenwich Meridian,
Machupicchu is located at a height of 2,350 meters above
sea level (main square).
CLIMATE
AND ENVIRONMENT
It is located in a subtropical zone, or dense wood,
the reason why the climate is mild, warm and damp, with
an average year-round temperature of 130C during the
day. One can perceive two distinct seasons during the
year: the rainy season from November to March, which
is a time of heavy rains. Visitors are advised to dress
accordingly during this season. The dry season from
April to October brings on higher temperatures.
FLORA
AND FAUNA
Both are abundant and varied. Typical plant life in the
historic reserve of Machupicchu includes pisonayes, q'eofias,
alisos, puya palm trees, ferns and more than 90 species
of orchids.
The fauna in the reserve includes the spectacled bear,
cock-of-the-rocks or "tunqui", tankas, wildcats
and an impressive variety of butterflies and insects unique
in the region.
The lie of the land, the natural surroundings
and the strategic location of Machupicchu lend this
monument a fusion of beauty, harmony and balance between
the work of the ancient Peruvians and the whims of nature.
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.
Jump to : Machupicchu & Cusco
Guided tours showroom
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 ñusta-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:
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.
THE FOUNTAINS
To the South of the complex, between the Temple of the Sun
and the Royal Palace, the area houses a series of water fountains,
the only sources of the vital element for the residents of
Machupicchu. The first three water fountains or "PaqchaS7
in Quechua, have been extremely well sculpted. The architectural
structures in this area are basically sculpted rock to which
are added other decorations such as the spillway and the side
walls. This beautiful finish is due to the harmony existing
between the Temple of the Sun and the Royal Palace. These
fountains were fed by underground water and carried via a
canal to be used for irrigation of crops.
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)
DESCRIPTION OF THE ROUTE TO MACHUPICCHU
There are 112krn of railway line between the city of Cusco
and the station of Puente Ruinas or Machupicchu. The trip
starts in the station of San Pedro in Cusco, zig-zagging up
the Picchu mountain until it reaches the highest point, a
spot called "El Arco" (the arch), in the northwest
part of the city.
- The route then descends to the villages of Poroy, Cachimayo
and lzcuchaca until it reaches the Anta plains, an extensive
cattle area. It climbs down the gully of Pomatales before
descending to the Sacred Valley of the Incas, arriving at
the station of Pachar. The route then crosses the Urubamba
River to the right bank and arrives at the station of Ollantaytambo.
For those who arrived here by the asphalt road of the Sacred
Valley, one can board the train to continue to Machupicchu.
HOT SPRINGS:
At a distance of 800m East of the town of Aguas Calientes,
there are underground hot sulfur springs which bubble up from
the rocky ground at varying temperatures.
The especially-built pools at this resort are the basis of
its use as hot mineral baths. The average temperature of the
water runs from 38ºc to 46ºc. There are also changing
rooms, bathrooms and a small snack bar.
RAIL TRANSPORT
Tourist Train, It only operates in the high season, leaving
Cusco in the morning, stopping at the most important stations
(Ollantaytambo, Km.88 or Ooriwayrachina) until it arrives
at the station of Puente Ruinas. The trip takes four hours
and returns in the evening.
Autovagon, This tourist service leaves Cusco in the morning
and takes three hours. The trip from The Sacred Valley of
the Incas (Urubamba to Ollantaytambo) takes 1,1/2 hours. It
returns in the evening.
It is recommended to check all timetables in train stations
and travel agencies, as they are modified according to the
season.
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