147 PERSPECTIVE 146 PERSPECTIVE

DESTINATION Machu Picchu / Peru

Acccrdin tc a NaticnaI Cecraphic speciaI
called 1he lnca Rebellion, Lhe lnca were 'Lhe
Romans ol Lhe New Worl d. l ncomparabl e
builders and enqineers, Lhey creaLed Machu
Picchu, (and) Lhe mosL sophisLicaLed road
sysLem ol Lhe Americas'.
A newly classilied wonder ol Lhe world and a
Unesco World HeriLaqe siLe, Machu Picchu
ollers more Lhan breaLhLakinq beauLy, iL also
serves up wonder lor scienLisLs, archiLecLs and
urban planners, much like SLonehenqe and Lhe
qreaL pyramids ol Ciza. 1he lncas may have held
power in Peru and surroundinq areas lor 3,000
years, buL Lheir abandonmenL ol Machu Picchu
coincides wiLh Lhe arrival ol Lhe Spanish, who,
as lar as iL is known, never lound iL.
Many archaeoloqisLs and oLher scienLisLs
aqree LhaL iL served lrom ^50 Lo 5^0 as Lhe
royal reLreaL lor PachacuLi, an exLraordinary
builder and ruler ol Lhe lncas, a people who
ruled lor abouL a cenLury. OLhers believe iL was
builL as a means ol preservinq Lhe culLure LhaL
had spread Lo encompass mosL ol SouLh
America's wesL coasL. lL may also have been Lhe
cenLre ol lncan poliLics, reliqion, and commerce,
especially qiven Lhe scale and seeminqly perlecL
coordinaLion ol several access rouLes leadinq Lo
iL. lL didn'L likely serve, Lhouqh, as cenLre ol Lhe
lncan empire, LhaL was Cuzco, a ciLy on llaL land
l ocaLed abouL a week' s wal k lrom Machu
Picchu."1hey were sullicienLly civilised Lo
pracLice inLensive aqriculLure, sullicienLly skillul
Lo equal Lhe besL masonry Lhe world has ever
seen... and sullicienLly advanced in arL Lo realise
Lhe beauLy ol simpliciLy," Binqham wroLe in his
book lnca Land: LxploraLions in Lhe Hiqhlands
ol Peru (available as a lree download lrom
www.quLenberq.orq).
THE HEIGHT OF SPACE DESIGN
Vari ous archi LecLural and urban pl anni nq
schemes, in addiLion Lo iLs verdanL Lropical
mounLain seLLinq 2,^30m above sealevel in Lhe
middle ol a loresL, make Lhis siLe remarkable.
1he siLe covers nine hecLares on Lhe sLeep
easLern sl opes ol Lhe Andes i n Lhe upper
Amazon basin. 1he ciLy was spread amonqsL a
|oinL beLween Lwo mounLains, named Machu
Picchu and Huayna Picchu, or 'old mounLain' and
'younq mounLain' as Lhe phrases LranslaLe in
Ouechua, a lanquaqe derived Lo LhaL ol Lhe lncas
and sLill prolilically spoken LhrouqhouL Peru.
lL conLains massive walls and Lerraces, many
ol which served aqriculLural purposes buL mosL
ol which were invisible and buLLressed Lhe visible
parL ol lrombelow Lhe ciLy's qrade. FurLhermore,
wiLhouL Lhem, builL in an area LhaL receives
several leeL ol rainlall each year, landslides and
lloods would have washed Machu Picchu away as
easily as crumbs down a sink. A canal ol almosL
750m helped sLeer LhaL waLer inLo consLrucLive
uses such as lounLains and pools.
1he Lerraces, ramps, looLpaLh roads,
bui l di nqs, and homes were lormed usi nq
precisely cuL blocks lrom Lhe area's bounLy ol
qraniLe rock. Buildinqs in Machu Picchu are
basically onesLorey, recLanqular consLrucLions,
wiLh Lrapezoidal doors and windows LhaL reveal
sLylisLics ol Lhe lnca people, consLrucLed wiLh
polished walls ol reqular shape and spaces
beLween elemenLs LhaL relied noL on morLar buL
preci se pl acemenL lor susLai nabi l i Ly and
i nsul aLi on lrom Lhe el emenLs. 1hey were
consLrucLed in absLracL qeomeLric shapes and
olLen ornaLely decoraLed.
Machu Picchu was divided inLo quarLers lor
iLs reliqious, aqriculLural, and urban needs.
City in the sky
This year marks the centennial of the discovery by American
explorer Hiram Bingham of the Incan city of Machu Picchu,
about which precious little is still known
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149 PERSPECTIVE 148 PERSPECTIVE
DESTINATION Machu Picchu / Peru
URBANITY
1he Ushaped urban ciLadel conLains buildinqs
siLuaLed on a norLhsouLh axis Lo llank Lhe
ChaupipaLa, or square. ln addiLion Lo workshop
areas, Lhis area is comprised ol many Lemples
and scul pLures: Lhe mai n Lempl e, where a
sculpLed sLone LhaL probably served as an alLar
lor ceremonial riLuals sLands, Lhe lnLihuaLana, a
larqe sculpLure likely used as a solar clock and
riLual alLar in a spoL where lncan asLronomers
miqhL have sLudied Lhe moon, planeLs, and sLars
Lo deLermine asLronomical evenLs, such as Lhe
seasons, sol sLi ces and equi noxes, Lhe
mausoleum, where Lhe lncas worshipped and
made ollerinqs Lo iLs mummilied main ollicers
and where a depicLion ol Lheir supposed earLh
qoddess's sLairsLep symbol is lound, Lhe SLreeL
ol Lhe FounLains, which reveals a sLunninqly
advanced waLer sysLem and aqueducLs, and Lhe
qroup ol Lhe Sacred Rocks, Lhe 1emple ol Lhe
Sun, Lhe 1emple ol Lhe 1hree Windows.
AGRICULTURE
FromlocaLion Lo waLer care or in conLemporary
Lerms, lrom real esLaLe Lo inlrasLrucLure Lhe
lncan socieLy was excepLionally sophisLicaLed.
lrriqaLion Lerraces sLreLch like lacework alonq Lhe
mounLain aL a carelully enqineered Lhree per cenL
qrade, opLimisinq Lhe naLural sprinq lound on a
hiqher plane. Some were wide, oLhers were small.
1hey were used as a drainaqe sysLem LhaL
prevenLed soil erosion and lor Lhe LransporL ol
waLer, like pipes. Amonq Lhis secLion are rooms
oriqinally used as sLorehouses Lo provide year
round lood supplies.
As Binqham wroLe in his 922 book, "unLil
lurLher liqhL can be Lhrown on Lhis lascinaLinq
problem iL seems reasonable Lo conclude LhaL aL
Machu Picchu we have Lhe ruins... ol a sacred
ciLy ol Lhe lasL lncas".
1here is yeL Lo be known so much abouL
Machu Picchu. 1ime will Lell, lor insLance, how
and why Lhe lncas builL Lhis CiLy in Lhe Sky
wiLh no wheel and no iron Lools.
150
PERSPECTIVE
DESTINATION Machu Picchu / Peru

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