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Machu
Picchu was constructed around 1450, at the height of the Inca
empire, and was abandoned less than 100 years later, as the empire
collapsed under Spanish conquest. Although the citadel is located
only about 50 miles from Cusco, the Inca capital, it was never found
and destroyed by the Spanish, as were many other Inca sites. Over the
centuries, the surrounding jungle grew to enshroud the site, and few
knew of its existence. In 1911, Yale historian and explorer Hiram
Bingham brought the "lost" city to the world’s
attention. Bingham and others hypothesized that the citadel was the
traditional birthplace of the Inca people or the spiritual center of
the "virgins of the sun," while curators of a recent
exhibit have speculated that Machu Picchu was a royal retreat.
It
is thought that the site was chosen for its unique location and
geological features. It is said that the silhouette of the mountain
range behind Machu Picchu represents the face of the Inca looking
upward towards the sky, with the largest peak, Huayna Picchu (meaning
Young Peak), representing his pierced nose.
One
theory maintains that Machu Picchu was an Incan "llacta":
a settlement built up to control the economy of the conquered regions
and that it may have been built with the purpose of protecting the
most select of the Incan aristocracy in the event of an attack. Based
on research conducted by scholars, most archaeologists now believe
that, rather than a defensive retreat, Machu Picchu was an estate of
the Inca emperor Pachacuti. and the site was selected based on its
position relative to sacred landscape features, especially mountains
that are in alignment with key astronomical events.
On
July 7, 2007, Machu Picchu was voted as one of New Seven Wonders of
the World. Machu Picchu is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.
All
of the construction in Machu Picchu uses the classic Inca
architectural style of polished dry-stone walls of regular shape. The
Incas were masters of this technique, called ashlar, in which blocks
of stone are cut to fit together tightly without mortar. Many
junctions in the central city are so perfect that not even a knife
fits between the stones.
The
Incas never used the wheel in any practical manner. How they moved
and placed enormous blocks of stones is a mystery, although the
general belief is that they used hundreds of men to push the stones
up inclined planes.
The
space is composed of 140 constructions including temples,
sanctuaries, parks and residences, houses with thatched roofs.
There
are more than one hundred flights of stone steps – often
completely carved in a single block of granite – and a great
number of water fountains, interconnected by channels and
water-drainages perforated in the rock, designed for the original
irrigation system. Evidence has been found to suggest that the
irrigation system was used to carry water from a holy spring, to each
of the houses in turn, the order being dictated by the perceived
holiness of the inhabitants. |
