Machu Picchu

Huayna Picchu rises in the background behind the ruins of Machu Picchu.

It is difficult to capture the size and scope of Machu Picchu in a single frame of the camera.  I wanted to get an iconic travel brochure shot that shows the entire area, but I was drawn to the detail shots that presented themselves throughout the site. The above image is my "postcard shot".  Other detail images follow in the blog.

It is also difficult to put into words what you see from the many vantage points of the site.  The overview images may give the impression that the area is small, but one can wander around many distinct regions throughout the site; from temples, rooms of several sizes, broad grassy areas, and steep terraces.  Machu Picchu sits on a fairly narrow ridge with percipitous drops on two sides, the equally steep Huayna Picchu at one end, and the mountain named Machu Picchu at the other end.  In fact, our guides told us that we don't really know the true name of the settlement, the name Machu Picchu is the name of the tall mountain that is close to it.In finding the right words to describe Machu Picchu, Mark Adams in his book, Turn Right at Machu Picchu, chose sublime.  I would have to agree on his word choice.  There is that quality of grandeur and beauty that inspires awe.

There are other facts about Machu Picchu that are surprising, but to me, it is the mystery of the place - what we don't know about it - that makes it fascinating.

Machu Picchu was constructed fairly late in the pre-Columbian era; probably begun in the 1400s and abandoned before the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire in 1532.  There is no evidence that the Spanish ever came upon Machu Picchu.  Why it was abandoned is a mystery, but over the centuries, the forest grew over much of the area.  Yale professor and explorer Hiram Bingham began exploring Peru in 1909-1910, searching for the "Lost City of the Incas."  It was on his 1911 expedition that he came upon the ruins.  His discovery was news to the outside world, but there were Quechua people living and farming at the site.  Yale University and the National Geographic Society got behind subsequent expeditions and the site was reclaimed from the surrounding forest.  Bingham's black and white photographs of the site were featured in the National Geographic Magazine in 1913.  Some before/after excavation pictures of Machu Picchu can be found at this website.  In Machu Picchu, Hiram Bingham did not find the Lost City of the Incas, but rather a lost city of the Incas.

One of the first things you notice about the site is the care taken in planning and preparing the site.  Steep hillsides that would wash away in heavy rains were terraced to give stability and also land to grow food.  These terraces buttressed the hillsides on two sides.  There were also water channels throughout the site carrying water both into and away from the city.  The Inca were master builders.  The walls they constructed were made of cut stone blocks cut precisely to fit together.  They fit so well and tightly that masonry was not necessary.  Note the detail in the picture below.

Note how the center block is cut to fit into surrounding blocks.

Our guides commented several times that the Inca were able to cut with laser precision using only the tools available to them.  How these stones were cut to fit remains a mystery.

A building that dominates is the Temple of the Sun, or Torreon.  This building is built over a cave using a natural rock at its base and cut blocks for the upper walls.  It is lighter in color than other buildings in Machu Picchu and has curved walls while other buildings tend to have right-angle walls.  This temple has two windows that align with the sunrise on the Winter and Summer solstices.  In fact, much of Machu Picchu and other Inca sites are aligned with the sun.  The rising sun would clear the surrounding mountains and its light would shine through one of the temple windows and illuminate the interior.

The Temple of the Sun with its distinctive curved wall.  Note one of the solstice windows.

Staying with the sun theme, another feature of Machu Picchu is the Intiwatana.  The name is derived from two Quechua words; inti meaning 'sun' and wata, 'to tie or hitch up'.  Figuratively it is the 'hitching post of the sun.'    Carved from a single stone block, this feature acts as an astronomical clock.  The center vertical section is carved at a 13 degree angle to match its location of 13 degrees south of the Equator.  The Inca certainly knew the movements of the sun year in and year out.

The intiwatana at Machu Picchu.

There were so many other details pointed out to us as we walked through the site.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves and comment in the captions.

Most of the buildings were without the the thatched roofs, but a few were restored to show how they were tied down.

Both natural or living stone and cut stone were used throughout the site.

Water mirrors carved from stone, probably used for observing the night sky.

Walls and rooms of various sizes.

The Temple of Three Windows in the center background.

Doors and windows have a trapezoidal shape.

Room with a view!

The "Watchman's House" commands the high ground of Machu Picchu.

Our visit to Machu Picchu came at the end of the trek along the Salkantay Trail (see previous blog post).  The site was certainly a highpoint of the trip, or as I described it, "Machu Picchu was the dot on the exclamation point that we the entire trip to Peru."