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Flowing west towards Machu Pichu.
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urubamba_River
Wikipedia Sacred Valley:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Valley
Old slide from the train to Machu Pichu 1967:
www.flickr.com/photos/peteshep/2381250808/in/album-721576...
Tags: peteshep PS Copyright photo FZ200 2015 Urubamba valley gorge Andes Peru river white water Upper Urubamba River Machu Pikchu
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Copyright photo PS
Machu Pichu and Huayna Pichu.
Including east side terracing.
wikimapia
Wikipedia Machu Pichu:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machu_Picchu
The vaunted Incan Empire lasted just 100 - 150 years before being destroyed by the conquistador-pirates despite its organised structure. However, it was just the last in 3,000 - 4,000 years of developing and skilled culture-civilisations in the west area of South America. Much of the Incan skill came from their predecessors, from the Tiahuanacan civilisation to its south, to the various coastal cultures, and north through today's Ecuador, and even influences from Central America.
The Pre-Columbian civilisations, remarkable especially in their arts and crafts, crop developments, and construction, are an inter-related evolution. Furthermore, much information has been lost over the centuries making evidenced insight important. A problem with understanding the Incan culture is that they didn't use written records. This has led to a great deal of interpretive imaginitus. A National Geographic of 1913 doubled the magazine's circulation by calling Machu Pichu the Lost City. Much more extreme propaganda has occurred since -- from alien theories to stone-softening chemicals. Rubbish. Today there is an extensive tourist-industry overlay which has improved the poverty life conditions for locals, and provided much valued interest, but can need a touch of verifying.
Machu Pichu has become globally iconic, to use the cliché. However, despite the propaganda and disinformation, it remains a remarkable statement of wonderful landform siting, cultural expression, and highly-skilled architecture and crafted-stonework.
Outstanding to experience.
I first saw Machu Pichu in 1967, pre-tourism. You can still see a couple of my mouldy old slides from that visit in my flickr Set/album South America '67:
peteshep/albums/72157604308081389
The often cloud-cloaked citadel of the Incas is built of rock, perched high at an altitude of 7, 710 ft on the narrow saddle of a mountain flanked by sheer drops to the Urubamba Valley below.
Machu Pichu is part of the Vilcabamba Batolite formation, a mass of igneous rock. The most common stone found in the region is a greyish-white Andesite-granite, a type of rock which contains high quantities of quartz, mica, and feldspar, but is reasonably easy to shape -- an excellent building material for the Incan masons.
The historic sanctuary is a cultural and natural area protected today by the Peruvian government. It harbours a large number of monuments linked to the Inca road network and is within a bio-diverse eco-system. The construction of Machu Pichu responded to the needs of the Inca state to have a religious, political, and administrative centre within a sacred space that can be considered link between the Andes and Amazon.
It represents a masterpiece of imaginative siting, architecture and engineering crafted in harmony with nature and is an important legacy of the Inca civilisation.
It was never sacked by the Spaniards as they failed to find it, nor was it lost to locals, but instead Machu Pichu was simply abandoned and left to nature to reclaim. The exquisite Inca stonework has withstood the ravages of time, but its use functions remain complex to understand.
Within the more-important broad picture, a visit highlights some of the many specific monuments such as the raised Intihuatuna --- "hitching stone of the sun" --- a carved rock probably used by the Incas as an indicator of the two solstices which they then used to plan agricultural cycles; the Sacred plaza -- flanked by the Temple of the Three Windows on the east, and the back of the principal Temple to the north --- this structure was probably used for ceremonial rites; skilled architecture -- fine craftsmanship involved in building the structures is evident -- they are made of many-sided stone blocks fitted together flawlessly without mortar; the Temple of the Sun -- Machu Pichu's only rounded building ---- it has two windows that may be aligned to the sun's summer and winter solstices; the guardhouse which forms a skyline landmark for visitors; the Temple of the Condor; water-fall fountains providing water distribution; agricultural terraces constructed to provide fertile shelves with drainage for crops; and so on. Some are detailed in my photo series.
Enjoy exploring.
In the face of UNESCO pressure, the Peruvian government is discussing ways to further limit traffic up the mountain to better preserve the ruins.
Tags: peteshep PS Copyright photo FZ200 2015 Machu Pichu Machu Picchu Andes Urubamba Peru Huayna Pichu terracing Incan Machu Pikchu Inka
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See also Wikimapia:
wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=-13.164549&lon=-72.544...
Wikipedia Machu Pichu:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machu_Picchu
360o, Google via Smithsonion. Click this blue link. Once appeared, click photo-image, click again upper-right Fullscreen icon and explore:
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/visit-machu-picchu-goog...
Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca Citadel located in Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru.
Tags: peteshep PS 2015 diagrammatic map Machu Pichu Machu Picchu Andes Peru locations Incan city Ministry of Culture Machu Pikchu Inka
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Restored guardhouse, Machu Pichu.
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Enlarge:
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2. Further enlarge: Then press F11 on a PC, or Fullscreen. Allow re-focus.
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wikimapia
The guardhouse or caretaker's hut is a small open-fronted structure with spectacular views over Machu Pichu, and was positioned to allow the caretaker to observe the access points including to the city's south. The hut has been restored with a thatched roof as can be seen in photo above.
Tags: peteshep PS Copyright photo FZ200 2015 Machu Pichu Guardhouse Andes Peru recinto del guardian south-west Machu Pikchu Inka
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Copyright photo PS
wikimapia
Old slide from Machu Pichu 1967:
www.flickr.com/photos/peteshep/2380416293/in/album-721576...
Tags: peteshep PS Copyright photo FZ200 2015 Machu Pichu Andes Urubamba Peru landforms Machu Pikchu
© All Rights Reserved