PISAQ
| Located
18 Km. From Cusco in straight line, and 35 Km through a paved road,
Pisaq is considered as a typical Inca town, with several stages of
a state city, and early privileged assimilation to the Inca Empire.
The remains of the
political, administrative and religious structures are distributed
on the slopes and peaks of the mountains on the right border of
the Urubamba river. Nowadays, there is a population of the same
name on the floor of the valley, living mostly of theagricultural
terraces.
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In the religious section,
we notice the Intiwatana, a block of stone, finely polished that works
as a prism column of a sun clock, through which ancient incas were able
to make astronomic observations related to the seasons, necessary to determine
when to cultivate the land. Next to the Intiwatana we find several rooms
with finely polished walls and niches with trapezoidal shape.
| There are
also many sections with rooms and courtyards of different quality,
some of them with walls finely polished and others not, joined with
mortar, some others made of mud brick. All these sections were joined
with a net of pathways with stairs, tunnels, water springs and waterways,
complemented with a system of terraces and andenes for agricultural
purposes. |
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A well known Inca cemetery
located near a rock wall has more than 3,000 burials some in natural cavities
and other ones dug for that purpose.The bodies were located in unipersonal
graves or in multipersonal graves showing the different the
social status of the people. Unfortunately all the tombs have been profaned
and there is no scientific trace that could have been recovered.
On a high and windy section of the complex, one can see a series of warehouses,
probably used to keep agricultural products as well as livestock.
The temperature and humidity makes it ideal to maintain food in good condition.
The terrace and andenes system is exceptionally beautiful and practical
where specialists have found traces of
a high and advanced
technology to create land, handle water and keep the fertility of plants.
In another sections, at 4200 meters above sea level, some rocky shelters
have engraved pictures of alpacas and llamas, and other geometric shapes
drawn with metallic colors as brown, yellow and red. Some of this pictorial
drawings are related to tombs that show pre inca occupation.
By the findings on the subfloors, we can see the systematic use
of the land for agricultural and grazing areas
| The
town of Pisaq is a very interesting place where each Sunday the inhabitants
meet at their colorful, weekly market that attracts many tourists.
The merchants, peasants, and officials all meet at the market to participate
in commercial activities or to attend mass. |
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OLLANTAYTAMBO
This site
was an important administrative and ceremonial center, located about
40 Km. Away from Cusco in a straight line, and about 87 Km. Through
the paved road, and 70 Km by train. It was built during the government
of the Inca Pachacuty, the most successful and energetic ruler of
the Inca Empire in the Andean region.
The city is on the right side of the Urubamba river and occupies 35
hectares. It has an upper section where the Temple of the Sun exceeds.
We can reach the top through a series of andenes and stairs made of
stones. There are houses with gardens and narrow streets in the lower
section of the city. The urban section is crossed by the Patacancha
river, a tributary of the Urubamba. The site is protected on the South
by an enormous wall 3 meters high and 1.5 meters wide that end in
a rocky wall. In the southern border is the Urubamba river which had
a hanging bridge next to the actual iron bridge. |
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The people of this urban
area lives in houses made with adobe bricks. About midfway from this urban
area, to the quarry of Kachiqhata, about 3 Km away, stand huge polished
boulders, for this reason we presume that the construction of the city
was not concluded, these rocks found on the left border of the river were
ready to be moved to their destination.
At the top of the ceremonial section of the complex, we find the Temple
of the Sun with a particular feature of a big wall made up of six blocks
of reddish stones finely polished and assembled with smaller stones. On
the surface and towards the east we can see a symbol of the Tiahuanaco
culture, related to the reverence to water and fertility.
| In the lower
part of the andenes we can see a square called Manyaraki surrounded
by buildings built with adobes (mud bricks), stones lintels and walls
covered with compact clay. In the southern section of the complex
there is an architectonic group with peculiar construction of stones
joined with mortar of yellow color. The walls with niches of double
door jamb. We have to mention the existence of an extended agricultural
area with andenes and waterways. Surface photographed by Hiram Bingham
at the begining of the century, when it was intensively cultivated.
There are other buildings
and andenes on the left border of the Urubamba river. Most of the
construction was built for defensive purposes during the
government of Manco Inca, the last emperor who endured the Spanish
conquest.
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The complex of Ollantaytambo
shows many special features and dissonant styles due to successive pre-inca
occupations. For example there are carved animals on the stones with different
shapes and forms. There is also a meteorite with the stairs shape symbol.
Close to
the complex there are other buildings with two and three floors with
wooden framework. All these buildings have a perimetric wall.
There are also several warehouses, called Colcas, there were used
to store grains and crops, and also to store handicrafts. Because
of these warehouses the city has the name of TAMBO. |
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Dr. Fernando
Astete Victoria
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