The Inca Empire has gone into the distant past, its splendor can only be judged by archaeological evidence, which, however, poses more questions than answers. The capital of the Inca empire, the city of Cuzco is located in a deep mountain bowl at an altitude of 3400 meters above sea level. This city was founded around 1500 BC, and around 600 years ago it became the capital with thousands of houses. In the Inca language, which is still used in Peru, the word "cusco" means "center of the world." That is why the central part of the Plaza city square is called "chaupi" ("the center of the center of the Inca empire"). There are many legends about the founding of the city of Cuzco, one of which tells the following.
At the beginning of the 12th century, the leader of the new inhabitants that appeared in these parts of Manco Capac - "the son of the gods descended from the Sun", who later became the first Inca (supreme ruler), released four stones from a sling in four different directions in order to build a city on such an area, what warriors can protect him. So Cuzco began to grow and strengthen, and over time turned into a capital filled with temples dedicated to pagan deities. The most grandiose structure of the city was the Temple of the Sun, access to which was allowed only to the ruler - Sapa Inca (The Only Inca). This temple housed a huge Golden Disc, inlaid with large emeralds and personifying the solar deity Inti.
The Temple of the Sun, whose halls were decorated with sheets of gold and numerous precious stones, could only compete with the Temple of the Moon, dedicated to the wife of Sapa Inca. Both of these temples, like most of the buildings in Cusco, were built of carefully matched stone blocks; between which the razor blade did not pass (which is very similar to the manufacturing technology of the terrace of the temple in the city of Baalbek).
Inca Empire: Sacsayhuaman
In the vicinity of the capital of the Inca empire, there is the archaeological complex Sacsayhuaman … This is a stone fortification, consisting of 21 bastions, over which the mighty towers rise, which were very effectively used by the Incas in the fight against the Spanish conquistadors. Sacsayhuaman, which in the Inca language means "bird of prey of gray stone color", was considered a fortress for a long time. And if you look at it from above, then its outlines really resemble a bird. Under the ground of this complex, there are many passages and rooms that could be used for sacrifices, as well as for consultations of the oracles who lived here. In addition, "there are rumors" that in these underground structures the Incas once hid from the Spaniards part of their fabulous wealth.
Whatever Sacsayhuaman really is - a military fortress or a religious cult center - it is a wonderful architectural monument of the pre-Columbian era, which is a mystery to scientists. In the modern world, any large structure is associated with numerous technologies. It is obvious that in ancient times the concept of technology was completely different, so it is very difficult to make estimates. The largest stones that form Sacsayhuaman are at the bottom of its walls, which are almost seven meters high, and the weight of these stones reaches 120 tons! At the same time, the weight of the largest boulders that make up the fortress walls reaches 360 tons! At the moment, there is no explanation for how the ancient builders managed to lift such huge boulders in order to build these powerful fortifications. Another mystery is the way these blocks connect to each other. How did they manage to "weld" these blocks together, since no cement or any other adhesive was used during the laying? In connection with these questions, the Spanish historian Garciaso de la Vega noted the following: "… These three walls were erected as if by magic, created by demons, not people - there are so many stones in them and so they are huge … It is impossible to believe that these stones were cut in quarries as the Indians had neither iron nor steel tools to extract and hew them. " Opposite the stone walls in Sacsayhuaman is the Throne of the Inca, which is a platform carved into the slope of a rocky hill with a series of steps leading to it. It's hard to say what the purpose of the Inca Throne washowever, it has perfect corners and edges that could not be achieved with traditional machining methods. Unfortunately, the Spanish colonialists used Sacsayhuaman as a "quarry" - they constantly took stones from there for their construction needs, so much in the capital of the Inca empire was irretrievably lost, and the mystery of the builders of the city of Cuzco remained unsolved.
Promotional video: