Machu Picchu Part 2 (the real deal)

After a long 3 days of backpacking, we finally made it to Machu Picchu!  We were really tired, so it was hard to concentrate and listen to the guide, but it was really interesting!

Machu Picchu (MP) means old mountain.

Huayna Picchu means young mountain.

Why did they build MP at its location? 1) water, 2) astronomy reasons (Incas were trained to stay close to the main god (the mountain), the sun shines a certain way during the solstices) 3) the material (granite):

Granite Quarry 

How the Incas managed to break the huge rocks into smaller building blocks: Incas found rocks with natural fractures and inserted wooden sticks in them. Then introduced water to expand the sticks, then the rock fractures.

Of note, you can only go one way once you get to the Sacred Plaza, so make sure you see what you can before you move on! Also there are no bathrooms, and if you leave the citadel area, you can't go back in!

Terraces were a form of drainage system (it rained a lot). On the right are the "low plateaus of Machu Picchu," part of the agricultural zone.




Water system:

No one knows the real reason for MP. Some theories:

1) MP used to be a city like Ollantaytambo, Pizac, etc. (but unlikely because of quality of construction, and numerous religious areas)

2) MP used to be a university for noble class people

3) MP is a spiritual, religious, sacred and powerful, place
4) Most likely Inca Emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472) ordered construction of this royal estate around 1450 for himself. 

After being used for 80 years, it was abandoned during the Spanish Conquest likely due to smallpox decimation of the population. Another theory is that the people there left to fight the Spanish, and the Spanish never found it.  There were other explorers who found Machu Picchu, but it wasn't really until 1911, when Hiram Bingham made it internationally known. He was looking for Vilcabamba (the last Incan city). He came to Urubamba and met some families in the community who led him to Macchu Picchu.

The US didn’t give back the Incan artifacts until 2010 and only then it was 70% of the artifacts they took.

The suspension bridges they built to cross these high mountains are built with grass. LITERALLY grass that just grows on the ground! They manage to weave it together, and then again, and then again, until it's one big cord. It's a huge venture every 2-3 years.

Grass bridge from Smithsonian Magazine

Sun gate (Intipunku) was the main gate of the Incas
 

Winter solstice (June 21) was end of harvest time, and that's when the sun shined directly through the Sun Gate and through the window of the Sun Temple to the ceremonial stone.

Sun Temple - so precisely made!

Summer solstice (December 21) was beginning of planting, that's when the sun shines through the other window in the Sun Temple.

The Mausoleum (under the Sun Temple) - where the Inca nobility were buried and worshiped. There is an alter and symbolic staircase. 

Pachamayma temple (tomb of Mother Earth): Bingham found dead bodies in fetal positions

Double doors within MP indicated a spiritual or religious importance

Principal Temple. Note the precise placement of the stones, and how little it moved despite massive earthquakes. The Incas had no metal or wheel, but they managed to build such an impressive empire with such good architecture. The buildings were built with massive stones that were so precisely pieced together that it didn't require mortar (partly because buildings made with mortar didn't stand the earthquakes there).


Altar facing Machu Picchu mountain was where they made sacrifices to Mother Earth as a thanksgiving for water

Temple of the three windows - represent Andean trilogy. Also possibly where nobility stayed.



Also above: Window with three ledges

They found a natural stone with three ledges, apparently this is very important too. On special days with a solstice, the shadow of the stone reflects on the ground and forms a cross, and it means duality and complementary. This is representation of the southern cross. It's known as Chacana (Inca cross). 

Intihuatana stone: ritual stone likely used for keeping time as a clock or calendar

The Temple of Three Windows, the Principal Temple, and the Intihuatana stone made up what Bingham called the Sacred Plaza.

View of the Sacred Plaza and Granite Quarry from the Royal Residence

Different wards are represented by different animals - condor, puma, snake, which were important to the Incas. Also representing Love, knowledge, work.

Water mirror - you can use them to "look" at the reflected sun or stars. This enclosure was also thought to be the the House of Women where they cooked and spun for the priestly class.



Temple of the condor

The rock on the ground is supposed to represent the beak/head, and the rock on right and left of those tiny windows are supposed to be the wings. It was thought the Condor would take beings from earth to infinity where they could meet the Sun God.

Human sacrifice: high priest would pick pretty girls/boys around 9 yo and train them in their religion until they were ready at about 15. Afterwards, anytime there was a natural disaster, they would sacrifice one or two. It was an honor for the family for their child to be sacrificed to Mother Earth. They would be taken up into the mountains and die of hypothermia.

Random fact: Black llamas were thought to have pure blood

Looking towards the Royal Enclosure (or residence):


There is a really random tree in the middle of MP

And lastly: obligatory funny llama pictures/video:

Llama playing dead (jk - prob sleeping/resting)

Smug llama

Baby llama!