More views of Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is such an awesome place and no matter how many pictures you see, you can't really appreciate its beauty unless you visit. But, I tried to capture some of that beauty in my pictures and felt successful in some.

This picture conveys a little of the feel of surrealness that you feel when visiting Machu Picchu. The cloud forest hanging over the Andes in the background, the beauty of the nearly perfect remains of the stone buildings, the feeling of being suspended in air are all in this picture for me.

The area portrayed is called the Industrial Sector.

This is the Main Portal. I believe it receives that designation because it is the entry into the most revered part of the city, where the temples, the Intihuantana stone, etc. are located.

Look closely at the door and you can appreciate the precision with which the Inca construction was done. All of the stones were put together without mortar!!! And they fit together so closely that a piece of paper cannot go between them.

To the right of the portal you can see the sacred peak Putukusi.


In this view you see the rock on which the Intihuantana stone sits. This part of Machu Picchu is carved out of a large stone -- see the lower, middle section. If you remember from a previous post, the Intihuantana stone was considered to connect the Inca to the heavens.

In this view you can see some of the agricultural terraces. This is where the Inca grew their crops and where their llamas and alpacas grazed. Imagine as you look at this picture constructing those walls on the side of the mountain---and fitting together those stones with no mortar!

Machu Picchu- miscellaneous views

The Intihuatana, a sacred stone at Machu Picchu, is shown here. Inti is the Inca sun god and Huana means "hitching post". So, this is the "hitching post to the sun". The Inca believed that this stone was sacred and gave off powers. Many visitors today believe that it has a spiritual aura. It is blocked from touching because of the damage that constant contact can have. In recent years, filming crews that were allowed on location at Machu Picchu damaged the stone by dropping a camera boom and cracking the stone. Two times a year, at fall and spring equinoxes, March 21 and September 21, the sun stands directly overhead. This room is named "Room of Three Windows". The windows show a view to three sacred peaks which surround Machu Picchu. It is believed that Pachacuti stayed in this room when he was at Machu Picchu.

This is a view of the fountains. The fountains, which still work today, provided water, but many were used for bathing. There are 16 fountains at Machu Picchu. This view is from the top looking down. The uppermost fountain was believed to be used by Pachacuti for ritual bathing. The more important you were, the higher up you were allowed to bath. Some of the fountains even have indentations which would look like cubicles for soaps.... At the bottom of this picture you can see the Rio Urubamba.

This room is called the Temple of the Condor. The condor was sacred to the Inca as it was believed to be connected to the afterlife. The three levels of Inca life were represented by the snake (the underworld), the puma (the present), and the condor (the heavens). The stone formation on the ground in this room is meant to represent the condor.

This view shows the backside of Machu Picchu as it descends down to the Rio Urubamba.