Sacsayhuaman is one of the mysterious sights of Peru. An amazing archaeological site located at an altitude of 3500 meters near the city of Cusco. There are many translations of this name. This is the "Spotted Hawk", and "Royal Eagle", and "Marble Head".
It even means "Fed Falcon" in translation from the language of the Quechua people.
Presumably, construction was carried out at the turn of the first and second millennia.
Sacsayhuaman. View from above.
The peculiarity of Sacsayhuaman is the zigzag walls and the total height of about 15 meters, built in 3 rows. The walls are located on the north side. The largest wall is 400 meters long and 6 meters high. The area occupied by the complex is more than 3,000 hectares.
There is a round building in the center. According to various versions, it was a temple, a sundial or a water tower. Only the base of three circles remains from it to this day. The height of the building is unknown. And in general, a lot is not known about this mysterious place.
Scientists put forward a variety of hypotheses for the emergence of this most interesting artifact. The authorship is attributed to the Inca tribe. It is believed to be a fortress designed to protect the capital of the Inca empire and a complex of temples. There is a version that Sacsayhuaman is the location of the garrison.
Zigzag walls, according to various speculations, symbolize lightning (the Incas worshiped the god of lightning), and cougar teeth (an animal sacred to the Incas).
Some scholars are not so clear about the Incas. They assume that not all objects were built by the Incas. According to historical data, at that time the Incas did not have the technology to create such fortifications.
And there is something to be surprised. The blocks of many tons, from which the walls are built, were mined far from Sacsayhuaman, somehow brought to the construction site, and fitted with microscopic precision to each other. No bonding material was used during the construction.
Historians cannot find anything to explain the filigree precision of the stone laying.
The lower blocks weigh hundreds or even thousands of tons. The largest of them is 8 meters high and weighs 3500 tons.
Sacsayhuaman is apparently an older structure than is commonly believed. It is even suggested that the Incas themselves did not know about the real creators of this complex. Maybe the structure was created by an older and more advanced civilization.
Excavations and research are still ongoing.
You will have the opportunity to touch the art of construction and technology beyond understanding.