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1994
Peru (Machu Picchu) - South America
Bec2004-09-20 17:00:41
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Urubamba valley
The train from Cuzco enters the Urubamba valley near Ollantaytambo, where it becomes a narrow gorge, and follows the river past Machu Picchu to the end of the line at the small village of Quillabamba. The views are stupendous.
Puente Ruinas
About 110 kms from Cuzco, the train stops at Puente Ruinas where visitors board busses to cross the Urubamba and climb the switchbacks, that are partly visible on this photo, going up the steep slope to Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu
Arriving near the top, the view of the ruins comes as a complete surprise for nothing is visible from the valley floor. It is therefore no wonder that the presence of this Inca city, which was known by the local Quechua, remained hidden to white man until they revealed it to Hiram Bingham in 1911.
By the time it was discovered it had become completely overgrown with vegetation and it took several decades of careful excavation and restoration to bring it to its is present state.
The ridge-top settlement was ordered around a central plaza with religious and ceremonial areas to the west and residential and industrial sectors to the east. This structure has been identified as the "Principal Temple".
The quality of the stone work here ranks amongst the best of all Inca constructions as you can see below. That, and the extent of the ceremonial areas support to view that the community living here was principally oriented towards religious pursuits rather than mundane or military.
A small room behind the "Principal Temple" was given the name of "Sacristy" apparently because someone imagined that ceremonial vessels would have been kept in the finely crafted niches found there.
The magnificent setting of this stone altar facing west reflects the important role it had to play in the cult of the Sun, the principal Inca deity. Its Quechua
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See photographs from:
Peru Gallery
