|
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 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
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.
|
