Machu Picchu is the ancient city of the Incas where it is located. Sacred City of the Incas Machu Picchu

The ancient city, translated from the Quechua language (Quichua) - "Old peak". Machu Picchu is located in South America, on the territory of modern Peru, occupying almost the entire territory of a flat top mountain range at an altitude of 2450 meters above sea level. 700 meters below, under the ridge, the Urubamba River flows.

Machu Picchu discovered modern world American explorer Hiram Bingham on July 24, 1911, who led an expedition organized by Yale University to search for lost city Incas, which the Spanish conquistadors could not find.

Bingham wrote about Machu Picchu: “... the delight of discovering massive stone structures past race...

Until now, researchers have not received answers to the main questions: what is the true age of Machu Picchu, what was the city originally called, who built it, why and for what purposes was it built on a hard-to-reach cliff, who originally lived in this city, why it was abandoned Where did the treasures of Machu Picchu go?

According to the most common scientific hypothesis, ancient city Machu Picchu was built under the Inca emperor Pachacutec around 1400 AD. and lasted less than 100 years. In 1532, the Spanish conquerors invaded the lands of the Incas, but did not reach Machu Picchu. The city was neither sacked nor destroyed. At present, it remains a mystery where and why all its inhabitants mysteriously disappeared?

Machu Picchu has a very fine structure. A complex of palace buildings is guessed in the southeast. Rising in the western part main temple with an altar for sacrifices. On the contrary, it is a residential quarter, densely built up with two-story houses. Between them, as in a labyrinth, narrow streets and stairs wind, often leading to a dead end or to a terrace hanging over an abyss.

Machu Picchu made scientists scratch their heads over how the builders of those times managed to hew, deliver to the mountains and install, fitting one to the other with millimeter accuracy, huge blocks of granite, without using either a bonding mortar or cranes.

By the size and shape of the blocks, the so-called “Main Temple” and “Temple of Three Windows”, it is clear that the masonry of the walls was created by a highly technologically advanced civilization.

The temples were built according to the earthquake-resistant technology of megalithic polygonal masonry. Among the blocks there are massive hewn polyhedrons with sharp edges.

What tool was used to achieve such processing? Perhaps these structures existed millennia before the rise of the Inca Empire? Perhaps the Incas built Machu Picchu on the ruins of much more ancient structures of the megalithic culture?

Traces of the activities of two different civilizations are visible on the structures of Machu Picchu. One of them freely handled huge boulders and hard granite, the possibilities of the other - the level of Inca technology.

It is amazing how easy the ancient masters were to handle hard stone, as if they were working with foam plastic, and not with solid igneous rock. Perhaps, in ancient times, people possessed unique technologies for “softening stones”?

Native American legends say that birds helped to build the city! This seemed to be a fiction until, in the 60s, zoologists discovered a previously unknown species of birds in the Andes, which the locals called "Hakaklyo" ("one who drills a stone"). These birds, plucking in tropical forest branches of some unknown plant and carrying them in their beak far into the mountains, easily “drill” nests up to a meter deep in the rocks - the juice of this plant seems to soften the stone. Ancient builders may well have used the juice of this plant to grind stone blocks. The surface became even and the plates fit snugly against each other.

Behind the ruins of Machu Picchu rises Mount Huayna Picchu (translated from Quechua - Young Peak), covered with terraces, in the construction of which giant blocks were used, some weighing up to 200 tons. It is hard to imagine how these stones were delivered to such a height by the Incas, who did not know the wheel.

Most high place Machu Picchu - "Sun Stone"(The place where the sun lingers), carved out of a single rock of enormous size, to which narrow stone steps lead. Its faces with amazing accuracy face the four cardinal points. Its heart is a ritual stone resembling a sundial. Looks like a stone clock "intihuatana" served the Indians at the same time and sundial, and a calendar.

In Search of the Treasures of Machu Picchu

In the archives of Rio de Janeiro, the English topographer and traveler Percy Fawcett found a document compiled in 1743 by a Portuguese, whose name remained unknown (Fawcett provisionally called him Francis Rapoza).

Raposo's detachment made a long-term transition through the jungle in order to discover some legendary gold mines. One day, when Raposo's small detachment, exhausted by the endless struggle with the jungle, stopped to rest, two soldiers managed to find a crevice along which it was possible to climb the seemingly impregnable mountains. The crevice led to the top of the cliff, from the height of which the Portuguese suddenly saw the city spread out below.

When the Raposo detachment was in the city, it turned out that it was empty, and by all signs it looked ancient and abandoned for a very long time. A wide street led the Portuguese to a square in the center of which stood a huge column of black stone, and on it stood a perfectly preserved statue of a man. Raposo was struck by the majestic appearance of the figure. He even reverently crossed himself. Opposite the statue stood a palace, the walls of which were covered with carvings depicting animals and birds.

Since fragments of obelisks and walls were found everywhere, as well as gaping cracks, Raposo concluded that the city was destroyed by an earthquake, and the inhabitants fled.

The document Fawcett read mentions that Raposo found treasure in dead city and discovered abandoned mines in which the Indians mined ore rich in silver. But Raposo could not return here again ...

Mysterious disappearance of the inhabitants of Machu Picchu

According to the findings of archaeologists, no more than 1,000 people lived in Machu Picchu. Such small number population and distance from others settlements suggests that Machu Picchu had a special purpose. But what? Hiram Bingham discovered 135 mummies during excavations, 109 of which presumably belonged to women. They decided that this place could be the refuge of the ahlyakun maidens of the Sun - beautiful girls gathered from all over Inca Empire. But further research showed that the mummies were male and female in equal proportions. Then maybe this is the residence royal family, or maybe a sanctuary or a place of residence for priests and priestesses? It remains to be guessed.

So why was the city abandoned? Why was such a comfortable place to live abandoned and where did its inhabitants go? There are many theories about this. According to one of them, the cause could be the drought that engulfed these lands. According to another, the fire drove people out of the city. Or maybe the Spanish invasion was to blame. The most plausible was the smallpox theory. Smallpox was brought to Peru from Europe by the Spaniards. A real epidemic broke out, and by 1548 half the country's population died from this disease. Perhaps this explains the depopulation of the city. In any case, the debate will continue for a very long time. There will be new discoveries and new hypotheses.

In 1911, by decision of the Academic Council of Yale University, an expedition led by the American explorer Hiram Bingham was sent to Peru. The purpose of the expedition was to search for the lost city of the Incas, which the Spanish conquistadors could not find at one time. From various ancient sources, it was assumed that the most likely place to search is impregnable mountainous areas around Cusco. One day in July, Bingham and his colleagues stumbled upon several peasant families living in the mountains the way their ancestors lived hundreds of years ago - without government, taxes, military conscription and other achievements of civilization. One of the local boys did not miss the opportunity to earn extra money and showed the Americans and the soldiers accompanying them an inconspicuous path that led them to a well-preserved ancient city ...

Machu Picchu - a city built to last

There was no information about the city, except for vague legends about its existence. Even its name was unknown. locals after the discovery of Bingham, the city of the Incas was named Machu Picchu- Old Mountain. Accordingly, the nearby peak was called "Young Mountain" - Huayna Picchu. The discoverer himself was convinced for a long time that he had discovered the city of Vilcabamba, which is actually located a hundred kilometers closer to the Pacific coast.

The city is perfectly preserved, which was facilitated by the skill of the Inca builders. Houses of perfectly hewn and fitted stones stood under open sky half a millennium in not the most favorable climate and in conditions of seismic instability. No binders such as cement or lime were used in their construction. The events of 2010 are indicative of the quality of Inca construction. Then multi-day heavy rains blurred everything modern roads to Machu Picchu, and thousands of people were evacuated from the city by helicopters. The city did not receive any damage. Such stability of buildings even made it possible to put forward a hypothesis about the involvement of ubiquitous aliens in the creation of Machu Picchu.

The main buildings of the city

Machu Picchu, unlike the vast majority of ancient cities, was built according to general plan. The city can be divided into three zones: the area of ​​official and religious buildings, the territory with residential buildings, and dungeons with a cemetery. All buildings, from temples to cattle pens, are made of stone. Terraces for agriculture are equipped on the southern slope, total area which reaches 5 hectares. The fertile soil was brought to the terraces by hand, and the plantings were irrigated by a complex irrigation system that has survived to this day.

The temple of the three windows, according to scientists, was built in memory of the founder of the Inca Empire and his ancestors. There is an observatory nearby. The intricately cut stone of Intihuantana, located in it, according to many scientists, served as a combination of a calendar and a sundial. With the help of this stone, the priests determined the onset of the solstices. Astronomical observations were accompanied by colorful celebrations. The priests, who were able to accurately catch the moment of the solstice and "bind" the sun, enjoyed special respect. In the same area with the Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Three Windows, conventionally called the Acropolis, there is also the House of the Princess. Either the queen of the Incas or the daughter of the emperor lived in this building.

The Temple of the Condor got its name because of its resemblance to this beautiful bird. In front of it there is a stone platform with drains. Their presence suggests the assumption that sacrifices were made here. Most large building in the temple area, of which only the bare walls without windows have survived, was frivolously called the Main Temple.

The houses in the residential part of Machu Picchu are not built as carefully as the temples, but they turned out to be no less durable. Judging by their number and the area of ​​cultivated land, from 500 to 2 thousand people lived in the city at the same time. Apparently, the best artisans and peasants were selected to live in the city - crop production at an altitude of about 2,500 meters requires very high qualifications. Craftsmen's houses look a little worse than temples. The stones are not hewn as carefully, and are not stacked as skillfully as in temple buildings. However, this did not affect the safety of the walls.

Behind the residential quarter there is a building that apparently served a role similar to a modern court, and immediately behind it there is a dungeon with hooks tightly embedded in the wall. There is also a cemetery nearby.

Archaeological research

Scientists have high hopes for archaeological research Machu Picchu, but the works of archaeologists have put more more puzzles. Excavations, of course, helped to discover the Inca Road, but did not answer the main mysteries of Machu Picchu. About two hundred skeletons were found, and the vast majority of them were the remains of women. In what Bingham called "The High Priest's Tomb," they found a female skeleton with several pieces of pottery. However, neither the purpose of Machu Picchu, nor the number of its inhabitants, nor the reason for the sudden devastation of the city could be found out with the help of excavations.

According to the popular notions of historians and archaeologists, the ancient city of Machu Picchu was built in the first half of the 15th century by the great ruler of the Inca Empire, Pachacutec. For its size, Machu Picchu could not have been the capital of the vast Inca empire. Most likely, he played the role of a sacred city or a temporary residence of the ruler. One way or another, fate measured out Machu Picchu for a very short period of existence. Already in 1532, when the Spaniards came to the territory of the Inca country, the city was dead. Why the inhabitants left it is unknown.

Mystery of the ancient city

History knows many examples of the decline and death of cities. Pompeii was destroyed by a volcanic eruption. Many settlements fell into decay due to the emergence of new means of production or the development of communications. But the process of decline in this case stretched for at least decades. Machu Picchu was not exposed to the elements and did not depend on industry and trade. And yet the city, in which so much skillful labor was invested, lasted less than a century. At the same time, the photos taken in Machu Picchu, upon closer examination, give the impression of some kind of organization of care. It seems that the inhabitants carefully collected the utensils, dismantled the wooden parts of the buildings and left until better times. This is the main secret of this ancient city.

If the remaining material evidence can be used to hypothesize about the purpose or population of Machu Picchu, then the reason why people left it remains completely unknown.

Modern Machu Picchu

Modern Machu Picchu is a place of pilgrimage for tourists. Up to 2,500 people visit the ancient city and the nearby attractions of Peru per day. Most likely, there would be more tourists, but their number is limited at the request of UNESCO, because the Inca city of Machu Picchu is recognized as one of the new wonders of the world. Visitors are not stopped even by a difficult road. You need to get to Peru by plane, then go by train to Aguas Calientes station, from where there is a bus to Machu Picchu.

There are also walking tours duration from 1 to 4 days. Only trained people can go in them - the trail runs at altitudes from 2,400 to 4,200 meters. A day trip with a guide will cost about $ 250. Porters can be hired for an additional fee. At the request of tourists, hiking starts at three different places and may take several days. All visits to Machu Picchu are strictly regulated, recorded and carried out only with a passport.

Machu Picchu (translated as "old peak") is sometimes called " lost city the Incas." The city is located on top of a mountain range at an altitude of 2450 meters above sea level above the valley of the Urubamba River in modern Peru. It still remains a mystery where and why all its inhabitants mysteriously disappeared in the distant 1532.

Due to its modest size, Machu Picchu cannot claim to be big city- it has no more than 200 structures. These are mainly temples, residences, warehouses and other premises for public needs. For the most part they are built of well-worked stone, slabs tightly fitted to each other. It is believed that up to 1200 people lived in and around it, who worshiped the sun god Inti and cultivated crops on the terraces.
For more than 400 years, this city was forgotten and abandoned. It was discovered by an American researcher from Yale University, Professor Hiram Bingham in 1911.
The road from Machu Picchu to Cusco is a fine example of the art of the Inca builders. Even in the rainy season the road is in excellent condition. The whole empire was covered by a wide network of communications, with a length of about 40 thousand km.

To build a city in such an inconvenient place for construction, incredible skill was required. Massive retaining walls and stepped terraces have been supporting the city for more than 500 years, preventing rains and landslides from demolishing it from the rocky ledge. The heirs of the Andean cultures to this day consider Machu Picchu a symbol of their connection with the great civilization of the past.

Lots of photos! Wikipedia: Machu Picchu (Quechua: Machu Pikchu, in translation - "old peak") - city ancient America, located on the territory of modern Peru, on top of a mountain range at an altitude of 2450 meters above sea level, dominating the valley of the Urubamba River.

- perhaps the most hyped object in South America. Everyone who has a TV at home has watched a program about the sacred city of the Incas at least once. Machu Picchu, really, really cool place, and 90% of its coolness lies in legends, because no one knows who, how, when and, most importantly, why built this pearl of the Andean mountains. When someone tells you something about, always remember that the key phrase in the whole story is "maybe."

For the right mood, we need a sound background. I have never heard this composition in Peru (only in Moscow near the metro "Peruvian Indians" periodically perform it), but you love legends and good music, so listen :)

If you want to get the maximum pleasure and emotions from it, you should definitely find some good storyteller of legends and go along the "Inca trail" with him. from Cusco to Machu Picchu. On the way, admire the incredible nature and breathe the purest mountain air. This path will take several days, after which you will be ready to enter the temple city and feel it with every cell of your body.

Machu Picchu how to get there

Usually pensioners love to unite with the universe, who are no longer in a hurry, but labor travelers get to Machu Picchu Here in such a simple way.

We didn’t have time either for a walk along the Inca trail or for hitchhiking, so We hit Machu Picchu, like most tourists - on a STRANGE train. You can buy a train ticket only in advance and not cheaper than $150 round trip. Trains come in different classes, and the price depends on it. There were two types of cattle cars on our STRANGE train - for tourists (in which we rode - the most cheap option for foreigners) and local population- there are wooden benches and prices, like in Soviet trains. A ticket to the "Soviet" car can only be purchased by a Peruvian, boarding a car is also on identity cards.
This is our travel car.

In our class, the ticket price included a glass of water and a cookie. In the more bourgeois trains that we meet on the way, the cars looked like a restaurant.

We left Oyantaytambo already in the dark, so we couldn’t enjoy the beauties of the mountain jungle at all, although the train even had windows in the roof for this.

Late in the evening we arrived in the town of Aguas Calientes, where, judging by the name, there are hot springs, which, of course, cannot be compared with our coolest puddles in Kamchatka. In general, we did not go to the waters, especially since it is expensive, Aguas Calientes is the most expensive city in Peru. There are at least two reasons for this - inaccessibility in the mountains and an endless stream of tourists.

Thanks to couchsurfing, another friend was waiting for us here, who could not shelter us, but told a lot useful information. For example, that tickets for bus to Machu Picchu you need to buy right now, and it’s better to go to the city not on the first bus, but after the flow of romantics subsides, who want to meet the dawn in the holy city (they won’t see anything there anyway, because the season of rains and fog), but, before those who like to sleep (because when they wake up, real hell will begin). In addition, to visit the complex, you must buy tickets here on the spot, as they are only checked at the entrance.

The bus that will take us from Aguas Calientes (about 10 kilometers) along the mountain serpentine, in both directions costs $ 18.50 or 51.52 suns. At the box office they accept national currency, and US dollars.

Machu Picchu

ticket price

A visit to Machu Picchu is worth it 128 suns (50% discount for students upon presentation of ISIC), visiting Machu Picchu and climbing the mountain of the same name - 142, Machu Picchu and climbing Huayna Picchu - 152 suns. Since Huaynu Picchu is in great demand among tourists, climbing it is more expensive, and the number of climbers is limited to 400 visitors per day, and only organized groups at a certain time (two groups per day, the time is indicated on the ticket).

We are not exactly pop tourists, so we signed up. It is taller and the view from it is steeper.

Before dawn, travelers slowly began to climb to the city, romantics lined up for buses, and we slowly woke up and got ready to leave. As a result, we came to a stop when those wishing to meet the dawn were already over, and the owls were just washing and brushing their teeth. Immediately behind us, a queue of one and a half hundred people grew, and two and a half dozen buses began to drive in a circle and take tourists to the goal.

At the entrance to the complex, you can separate fee go to the toilet and buy a guide. We took a guide to listen to tales, and with a guide it is easier to navigate in an unfamiliar city.

The first thing we saw in Machu Picchu was Huaynu Picchu and a cloud floating nearby.

Around us were green mountains and rain poured down from the sky with varying degrees of success.

Early Morning in Machu Picchu there are practically no people, by lunchtime it will not be overcrowded here.

Modern civilization discovered the city only at the beginning of the 20th century. Machu Picchu was abandoned and all covered with jungle. Since the Spaniards did not get here in the 16th century, they not only did not destroy the city, as often happened with other settlements, but, accordingly, did not find out who lived here, what they did and, in general, what this city was called.

The city is located on the bridge between old mountain (Machu Picchu) and the Young Mountain (Huayna Picchu). The researchers decided to name the complex in honor of the mountain, which is higher.

The young mountain is visible in the previous photo. It is present on all classic views of Machu Picchu, and the Old Mountain looks like this. After the tour, we will climb it.

First of all, the guide leads to the coolest building in the city - the "Temple of the Sun". No one really knows the temple or the fur coat store, but it stands out from the general building with material, quality of processing and shape.

The temple rises on a rock ledge. They are not allowed inside, but if you google pictures on the Internet, you can see that inside the rock forms something like an altar, on which at a certain time sunlight falls very successfully through the window.

Under the rock on which the temple stands, there is a cave, adapted for no one knows what. They could store jars with pickles in it, or they could carry out ritual actions. It remains for us to guess and admire the crooked steps to nowhere, the ideal even masonry inside the room and the no less ideal crooked masonry, which was laid between the rocky ledges.

Who and why built Machu Picchu, I don’t know, but I like the versions that the city was the winter residence of the ruler - in Cusco, even in summer, it’s not at all hot at night, and in winter it’s completely frosty, probably. Machu Picchu is located lower, it's warm, insanely beautiful, and it's hard to get here for any dissatisfied subjects. This place is ideal for giving. Well, besides, it was possible to settle here all sorts of scientists who would enjoy life, study astronomy, architecture and other things that it is better for ordinary inhabitants of the empire not to know about.
Here is the masonry of the wall that forms the courtyard near the Temple of the Sun.

And here is the same wall from the side, so that you can imagine the size of the bricks.

- a full-fledged city, not some small temple complex. There is a concentration of many different styles of architecture and construction methods.
An unusual building with three windows, built from huge, well-crafted blocks - let's call it the "Temple of the Three Windows".

Half a house made of beautiful blocks, half a house made of cobblestones - “Inca Palace”?

It is interesting that even in the “Inca Palace” such ideal masonry does not go to the very top of the building, but only to the middle. Further built of cobblestone. When I asked why the palace was not completed to the end from processed blocks, the guide replied that “maybe the Inca has changed, and with it the fashion in architecture, or maybe ... let's move on.”

And this is our tour guide. Her name is Svetlana. He says that his uncle-entertainer advised his parents on a beautiful foreign name.

Let's continue with the buildings.
Typical two-story house - workshop, residential building, etc.

It feels like Machu Picchu was built throughout the development of civilization. Here are architectural monuments of all construction techniques from straw-dung to megalithic (or vice versa?).

This is the corner of the house. It can be seen that even in an ordinary brick wall, the corner bricks are not at all the classical form familiar to us.

Beams over the aisles.

You walk along the path along the cliff.

You look closely - no, it's not a rock, it's a neatly folded wall. Some of the pebbles here are taller than human height.

- And what were these niches in the wall for?
- And you go up to them, stick your head in and hum. Hear what echo? Go ahead!

And this is a very important stone. Each guide brings his groups to him and always tells how the Incas processed stones - they found a huge cobblestone or even a piece of a whole rock with an even crack, hammered wooden wedges into it and then shamanized - either they poured water on them, or, on the contrary, dried them, but in In general, the stone split, forming an even chip.
All this, of course, is wonderful, but I was a little prepared by neo-Vangists from the Patient Protection League, so I asked Svetlana to clarify whether this stone was found here in this form, or whether it was “British scientists” who were conducting an experiment.
In general, supporters of the theory of wooden wedges tried to split this stone quite recently. Therefore, the described technology is nothing more than one of the versions.

Next stop at the Sacred Stone. It is sacred, according to the researchers, because if you look at it from a certain angle, its outlines repeat the pattern of the surrounding mountains.

And this thing lies at the highest point of the city. She has a lot of all sorts of corners and protrusions, by which you can determine anything. This is a clock, and a compass, and a calendar, and an observatory, and, translated from Quechuan, "the place where the sun is tied." One thing I just don’t understand is where this stone got its Quechuan name from, if white people found it only in the 20th century.

Speaking of observatories. They say that the Incas from the Machupicchen Academy of Sciences looked at these plates at night and studied starry sky reflected in the water mirror.

I have already tired you with all these stones. I understand how boring it is if you haven’t seen them with your eyes and haven’t touched them with your hands)
Therefore, we say goodbye to the guide and go for a walk.

First down, and then up - to the mountains)

No, we won’t climb these dazzling peaks - we’ll only go to the “Old Mountain” ().
Only those who have bought a ticket in advance are allowed to enter Machu Picchu. There is a booth on the trail, in which you need to sign up for the climbers' journal and indicate the start time. On the way back, be sure to make a mark about the return, so that you will not be looked for later, as if you have fallen into the abyss.
I have no idea what kind of view opens from Huayna Picchu, but from Machu Picchu, probably the best panorama of the city.

The path to the mountain is basically a stone staircase, which for some reason was built by the inhabitants of the city. If the ladder suddenly ran into a wall, the wall had to be broken through. Don't go around.

From the top old mountain, if enlarged well, Machu Picchu looks like So.

When you wander through the labyrinth of the city, it seems huge, and when you look from above, you can’t believe your eyes, it seems that only a small part of it is visible.
It is very difficult to imagine how beautiful place chose the Incas for their "city in the clouds". See how it twists Urubamba around Machu Picchu. The river flows on both sides of the city, while skirting Huayna Picchu, forming a "peninsula".

And around there are endless mountains and gorges, against which I will pose a little. If in the morning it was cool and it was raining, then by lunchtime, when we climbed the mountain, the sun began to fry mercilessly right in the head. If you look closely, you can see the shadow of my head on my "thermukha". No, it's not sweat - it's a shadow)

Machu Picchu: photos

Machu Picchu has an insane amount of tourists. Sometimes it is impossible to pass each other in the narrow passages between the houses or the cliff under the terraces, but in the photographs the city always looks empty and green. Green lawns are places where tourists are simply not allowed, and where they can walk, not a single blade of grass can break through. Here's what they look like hiking trails from high.

Going down the stairs is much more difficult than going up, especially under the scorching sun. Legs are shaking, terribly thirsty, and we stomp back.

The weather has improved - it's a sin not to walk around the city again. This time without a guide urging us forward.

Builders of Machu Picchu were very ambitious people. So, they built houses, you need to connect them with paths, but the rock is in the way - they cut it, built a staircase.

And then they scratched the back of their head and decided that it was possible to partially make a ladder from a monolith growing from the ground.

Or, here, there is a rock. Why not build a house on this "balcony"?

On the other hand, it looks like this.

Stone.

Throne?

All these stones give me an endless boost of energy, and I am ready to walk among them for hours, but some of the participants in our trip got tired of the stones and went into sleep mode.
Pay attention to the stones around

I took advantage free time and went on walking.

Machu Picchu is not just a city, but also a fortress. Just like that, you can’t approach the houses from any side - the entire residential area is surrounded by a city wall. Left visible main entrance in town.