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Perú of the Incas • CUSCO • THE SACRED VALLEY • MACHU PICCHU Photography: David Phillips & Georgianna Lane
A
t one time Perú was the homeland of several prominent Andean civilizations, of which the Incas were certainly the most notable.
The Incas built astonishing mountain temples, palaces and other buildings, all with no mortar; they constructed almost 10,000 miles of roads, engineered functional bridges and built aqueducts to transport their water. At the zenith of the Inca’s influence in 1532, the Spanish conquistadores arrived in their greedy quest for gold and other riches; they executed or enslaved the proud, indigenous Indians and their leaders, captured their cities, and in a brief period of time this innovative and powerful culture was scattered to the wind and all but destroyed. For almost three hundred years Perú functioned as a Spanish colony, but in the early 19th century, native discontent and colonist revolts brought calls for independence, localized uprisings, and then, civil war in 1821, with the Spanish finally defeated in 1824. The future is surely bright in this one-time “Land of the Incas,” as Perú has an abundant supply of natural resources, enormous agricultural potential and some of the most stunning venues on the planet. And the Incas are still there.
T
he Sacred Valley is understood to be the land that extends between the towns of Pisac and Ollantaytambo. This was the heart of the Inca Empire, starting just 10 miles outside of Cusco. Flowing through the Sacred Valley is the Urubamba (Vilcanota) River. Machu Picchu lies at the valley’s north end. The Sacred Valley of the Incas was undoubtedly a key area of settlement to the Incas. Its agreeable climate and fertile plains make a rare and fruitful combination for the high Andes. It was also the route to the jungle and therefore an area with access to the fruits and plants of the tropical lowlands. The Sacred Valley served as a buffer zone, protecting Cusco from incursions of the Antis, the fierce jungle tribes who from time to time raided the highlands. Today the Sacred Valley remains a lush agricultural region supplying the city of Cusco with much of its produce such as maize, fruit and vegetables.
Cusco (also Cuzco; Quechua Qusqu or Qosqo), at 11,000 ft. above sea level, was the capital of the Inca world from the 1200s until the Spanish, under Pizarro, arrived in 1532 with the notion that this was all their property. Today the Inca influence is still very apparent.
Cusco main plaza
Temple of the sun
San Blas
Around CuscO Countryside, Ruins of Sachsayhuaman, Ccoroa, Awana Kancha, Camelides & Condors....
Sachsayhuaman, near Cusco
On the road from Cusco to Ccoroa; Awana Kancha and Pisac.
Awana Kancha
The train from Cusco to Machu Picchu
Ollantaytambo station
Along the Urubamba
Machu Picchu Nestled in the Andes at 8,000 ft. above sea level, Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas, dates from about 1450; the sacred citadel was never found, and therefore never plundered, by the Spaniards.
SACRED VALLEY Chinchero with its textiles, Urubamba with its ceramics, Pisac, the ancient Inca agricultural center and former granary for Cusco, and points in between in the Sacred Valley.
Chinchero
Chinchero
The Incas were builders. The Spanish flattened their world and built on top of the ruins.
Casa Andina, Chinchero
The market at Chinchero
The road to Urubamba
Urubamba – ceramics
Pablo Seminario
PISAC Agricultural center of the Inca world
The market at Pisac