Tag: cusco peru

The architectural complex of Ollantaytambo is located in the district of the same name in the province of Urubamba. The town is approximately 80 km northeast of the city of Cusco, along the Chinchero – Urubamba road. Ollantaytambo, in the time of the Incas was used as tambo. A tambo was a city – lodging that had the capacity to accommodate thousands of people and they were endowed with gigantic deposits of food, very good roads and places of astronomical observation. They were also characterized by the proper distance that separated them from Cusco, for being located in a main route of the Incanato, which facilitated the rest of the walkers to places of great importance, as in this case the Citadel of Machu Picchu. The Incas provisioned this water fortress through subterranean aqueducts, whose places of capture were state secrets in their time and until today are not discovered. Ollantaytambo is the clearest example of how the Incas built the imposing archeological complexes that we can admire until now, as you can appreciate the origin, extraction, carving, transport and perfect assembly of the stones.

The archaeological remains of Sacsayhuaman are located only 2 km. of the city of Cusco. Its name comes from two Quechua words Sacsay = “satiate” and huaman = “hawk” ie the hawk satisfied and in the Inca era was a great center of worship. According to historians its construction would have been initiated in the fourteenth century in the government of Pachakuteq and continued Tupac Yupanqui, would have taken about seven decades and the work of 20000 men its culmination. The archaeological complex occupies the edge of the northern slope of the city. The south side of the building was surrounded by a polished wall almost 400 meters long. The boundaries of the temple, to the east and the west, were marked by other walls and platforms. The main front of the building looks to the north and is protected by a formidable system of three platforms. These are supported by zigzag walls, made up of large stones, which astonished its first visitors and which continues to astonish even now. The Inca Garcilaso affirms that these walls were made to demonstrate the Inca power. The main wall consists of stones that can measure up to 5 meters high and 2.5 meters wide, and which can weigh between 90 and 125 metric tons. Moving these stones was a real feat, but so was the perfect fit between them, as well as the care taken in the curvature of the cushions. From Sacsayhuamán you get a spectacular view of Cusco City and its surroundings. In addition, you can see peaks such as Ausangate, Pachatusan and Cinca, places believed to be inhabited by apus or powerful spirits that rule the mountains. To the front of the complex is the Suchuna or rodadero, is a natural formation of rock of igneous origin that emerged

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