Cusco Final
Our next stop in Cusco is the Sacsayhuaman fortress ruins. This massive fortress sits high on a hill overlooking Cusco. The first image is a panorama of that view. The fortress' double zigzag walls are said to symbolize puma's teeth. This was a large size fortress and it's labyrinth of rooms were large and plentiful enough to garrison 5,000 Inca soldiers.
The Spanish dismantled the interior buildings for their stone. In the images you will see the remains of the walls and the huge boulders weighing as much as 125 tons, fitted entirely by hand and no mortar. The buildings of the Incas have survived many earthquakes these past hundred of years.
One thing that sticks out to me is the contrast between the stone work at the fortress versus the stone work at the temple we had just visited. At the temple the stones were all quarried, perfect and finally fitted to one another and polished. At the fortress the stone work made use of existing stone and the only worked the stone to get them to fit in place. And the size of the stones varied, with smaller stone used to fill voids in the joints between massive boulders. Opulence for a temple versus function for a fortress.
This is our final exploration in Peru, we left the next morning for Quito Ecuador. I look back at our time in Peru and my biggest takeaway is that I can't help but wonder what the world would be like to today if the Incas' were not conquered by the Spanish and their culture suppressed. The path the Incas were on would surly continue to expanded and with their engineering skills and the astronomical knowledge they held....I just wonder what it would be like.
Manuel our leader for Peru...thank you Manuel for a great experience
Connie going for a close up
Michael getting one last shot.
The Spanish dismantled the interior buildings for their stone. In the images you will see the remains of the walls and the huge boulders weighing as much as 125 tons, fitted entirely by hand and no mortar. The buildings of the Incas have survived many earthquakes these past hundred of years.
One thing that sticks out to me is the contrast between the stone work at the fortress versus the stone work at the temple we had just visited. At the temple the stones were all quarried, perfect and finally fitted to one another and polished. At the fortress the stone work made use of existing stone and the only worked the stone to get them to fit in place. And the size of the stones varied, with smaller stone used to fill voids in the joints between massive boulders. Opulence for a temple versus function for a fortress.
This is our final exploration in Peru, we left the next morning for Quito Ecuador. I look back at our time in Peru and my biggest takeaway is that I can't help but wonder what the world would be like to today if the Incas' were not conquered by the Spanish and their culture suppressed. The path the Incas were on would surly continue to expanded and with their engineering skills and the astronomical knowledge they held....I just wonder what it would be like.
Megan and Michael getting a shot of Maryann and Gregorio
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