There are many places on our planet that have an unusual effect on humans. After some time, people who are there have an inexplicable feeling that something invisible has happened in their lives. A barely tangible premonition of touching something eternal does not leave them, the desire to return to these places in order to start a new path to unknown, long-lost knowledge and secrets does not leave them alone.
One of these places, no doubt, is the ancient capital of the Inca empire of Cuzco and the city of Machu Picchu, lost between the mountains, which are located in Peru in South America.
Empire of the Incas, an ancient people who lived on the territory of Peru in the XI-XIII centuries. stretched from north to south of the South American continent for 4000 km. The Inca empire was very rich and highly developed. The first mention of this ancient civilization is associated with the arrival of the Incas in the Cusco Valley. Subsequently, they conquered more and more new lands and reached what is now Ecuador.
Lost in the mountains, but well preserved, the city of Machu Picchu is located at an altitude of 2,590 meters above sea level in the Urubamba Valley in the southern Peruvian Andes. It is about 300 miles from the current capital of Peru, Lima. The city was built around 1460 by the ruler of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui and remained inhabited until the Spanish conquest in 1532.
Historian and archaeologist, professor at Yale University Hiram Bingham from America found the lost city in 1911. During three expeditions, the scientist collected more than 500 items on its excavations, which he described in the book "The Lost City of the Incas", which became a bestseller. 1913 - the American National Geographic Society reported on the sensational find of the archaeologist in a special issue of the magazine.
Since that time, many excavations have been carried out on the territory of the ancient city, during which about 5,000 items of gold, silver, wood, stone and ceramics have been discovered. All of them were taken to America. The struggle of the Peruvian authorities for the return of this national heritage continues to this day.
The city of Machu Picchu is located on the top of a sheer cliff. No traces of the disappeared people have survived among the ruins. The city, most likely, resembles a ship wrecked in the middle of the ocean: its masts are broken, the name has been erased, the crew died, and now no one can say where it came from, to whom it belonged and what caused its death. An old road runs from the south to the city, running along the very edge of the cliff. Lush vegetation covers the slopes of all mountains. Trees very similar to blooming lilacs contribute to the extraordinary beauty of the local landscape.
In Machu Picchu, city blocks, stairs, houses and temples have been preserved. All buildings are roofless, but very well preserved. Their walls are especially striking: grandiose stone blocks of buildings and temples are piled on top of each other. It remains a secret, with the help of what devices it was possible to do this - after all, the weight of one block is about 20 tons! But the most surprising thing is that you can't even stick a needle between them. Who could build such a thing?
Promotional video:
So far, we managed to figure out the purpose of the terraces - they grew vegetables and cereals. The Incas knew about 200 varieties of potatoes, each of which took root at a certain height. They also cultivated beans, corn and even fruit trees. For all this, irrigation was needed, and springs and wells were preserved in the city. Agricultural terraces are striking in their variety and perfection - some of them are even absolutely round, very reminiscent of giant amphitheaters.
To this day, scientists do not have an unambiguous answer to the question of what Machu Picchu is. There are several versions: a fortress, a summer residence of the Inca ruler, a nunnery. The city is located so that it can be guarded by a small group of soldiers. If you destroy the bridge on its southwest side and block the narrow road in the southeast leading from Cuzco, then it will be completely impregnable.
The biggest mystery remains the reason why the residents left Machu Picchu. If we assume that this was an invasion of wild tribes from the selva, then the city buildings would bear traces of destruction, but they are not. But attention is drawn to the many burials of women. Anthropological studies of their remains gave a sensational result: they all died of syphilis. Perhaps the lost city was a venereal genetic clinic for the treatment of women? Maybe there was no problem in South America at that time more important than protecting the population from the terrible epidemic of this disease?
According to another version, Machu Picchu was a secret fortress on the way of uninvited guests. After all, the Spanish conquistadors did not know anything about him. There is an old road on the eastern slopes of the mountains. Where it leads is still unknown. Perhaps the Incas used it to take their gold to distant hiding places and therefore were silent about the city, which was the "key to treasures."
What were these building technologies that the Incas possessed? In scientific circles, the term used is "Inca masonry" This very "Inca clutch" is spread in an area about 100 km wide and no more than 600 km long. Curiously, this technology is present only in this area and in the basin of Lake Titicaca. How the Incas were able to achieve such results remains a mystery. There is only one, very fantastic version, according to which the Incas supposedly possessed the secret of softening the stone. This enabled them to handle huge monoliths and lay them without mortar, making polygonal joints.
It is not in vain that the roads of the ancient Incas are called the eighth wonder of the world. They stretch over huge distances, covering, like a spider web, the entire Inca empire. These roads connected in a single system not only cities, but also small Indian settlements and were the shortest and most convenient routes in all respects in mountainous conditions. Even after centuries, their quality commands respect - all modern highways in Peru and even the Pan American highway are laid along these ancient highways. The question involuntarily arises: who could teach the Incas such road construction?
But that's not all. Real mysticism blows when you get acquainted with the materials of experts who studied ancient burials and mummies of the Incas. A huge cemetery was found in the suburbs of Lima. According to scientists, the age of the remains found there is more than one thousand years. Nevertheless, all the mummies are well preserved. There is a version that small children were sacrificed to the gods, who may have been immured alive in crypts. Another, the largest cemetery was discovered in 2002. Thousands of mummies preserved there, some of which are wrapped in one cocoon along with all their belongings, cause mixed feelings.
2004, February - another find was made in Peru, which became an archaeological sensation. In the province of Islay in the south of the country, during excavation work, workers found the mummies of a man and a boy buried in 1300. Scientists found that their age was about 35 and 5 years, respectively.
Both died of natural causes. In accordance with the customs of those times, each of the bodies was wrapped in a red and blue woolen cape and tied with a rope. Seed bags were tied to the man's clothes. The mummies are well preserved. True, when the workers saw the man's body, they were horrified: he had one eye open, which was well preserved. Truly a look from ancient times!
In the course of further research, it was found that the mummies retained not only internal organs, but also subcutaneous fat deposits. Scientists have encountered such a phenomenon for the first time and so far cannot unravel the secrets of mummification possessed by the ancient Incas.
Long before that (in 1969), ethnologist and collector of mysterious facts Juan Moritz discovered a system of underground communications in Argentina. According to the researcher, this gigantic fork of roads and tunnels stretches for thousands of kilometers. It also takes place under Peru and Ecuador. The walls of the tunnels are smooth and polished, and the ceilings are flat and even, as if covered with glaze.
Passage roads lead to huge rooms. In one of the galleries, they found thin metal sheets measuring 96 × 48 cm. They are pressed together like the pages of a huge book. In scientific circles, such plates are called plaques. The most curious thing is that mysterious signs are stamped or engraved on each such page.
Scientists believe that this is the "library" of the extinct ancient Inca civilization. According to another version, the historical prophecies of the Incas or the knowledge of aliens who flew to our planet are "recorded" there (by the way, it has been proven that underground communications existed even before the Incas). In the center of the "library" are objects that resemble a table and chairs around it, but the material from which they are made is not known.
This is not stone, wood or metal, but most likely something similar to ceramics. In modern cosmonautics, composite materials are used that are particularly durable and resistant to extreme temperatures. Has a similar one been found? Then the question arises, who could have made it many centuries ago?
In addition, Juan Moritz found many animal figurines made of gold underground. In this kind of "zoo" there are figurines of elephants, crocodiles, bison, jaguars. They all stand along the walls of the halls and aisles.
There are no drawings on the walls of the tunnels, they are carved or pressed into the floor. One of them has an image of a man hovering above the Earth. It turns out that long before the era of astronautics, man knew about the spherical shape of the Earth? Another floor figure has a rectangular body and a round head. This mysterious creature stands on a ball-globe and holds the Moon and the Sun in its "hands". A figurine of a "clown" was also found (rather, he could be called a "pilot"), on whose head was a helmet with headphones, and on his hands - gloves. A ring and wires are attached to his suit, which resembles a "spacesuit".
Among the amazing finds of Moritz are the gold models of the "Concorde" (they very much resemble a modern supersonic passenger airliner). One of them is in the Museum of Bogota (the capital of Colombia), the other is underground. Aviation experts believe that this is actually a model of an airship. Its geometrically correct wings and high vertical keel (tail) are striking. There are no birds with such characteristics.
The figurine is made of pure gold, which is another mystery, because there is no such thing as pure gold in nature. Native gold is a natural solid solution of silver (up to 43%) in gold and contains impurities of copper, iron and other metals. And pure gold can be obtained in our time with the help of special processing at modern enterprises and equipment. How was this technology known to the representatives of the ancient Inca civilization?
Another drawing, which is engraved in the stone floor of the tunnel, depicts … a dinosaur. However, dinosaurs lived on our planet at least 65 million years ago! And the drawing itself, according to the calculations of scientists, was made in the 4-9 millennium BC. e. Another mystical riddle!
And the tunnels themselves are no less a mystery. Even today, there are no such unique underground construction technologies yet. Who, then, could have created thousands of perfectly flat tunnels with polished walls in the granite monolith, which in fact constitute a giant underground metropolis? Perhaps they are the fruit of alien technology?
The name of the explorer Percy Gerrison Fossett from England is inextricably linked with attempts to unravel the fate of the ancient civilization of the Incas. The mystical disappearance of his expedition to the jungle of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso to this day excites the minds of scientists and adventurers. Fossett, an experienced geographer and topographer (former colonel), anthropologist, brave traveler and dreamer, can be safely called one of those ascetics who sincerely believed that traces of unknown civilizations, including Atlantis, were preserved in the impassable jungle of South America … Fossett was not looking for gold or rich treasures, he was attracted by the lost cities. In search of them, he made 7 trips, the eighth was fatal for him.
In Rio de Janeiro, the researcher found interesting documents concerning the expedition of Francisco Raposo, a Portuguese gold digger and adventurer. It was an illegible manuscript in Portuguese, corrupted in many places. After reading it, Fossett made a strange entry in his diary: “Probably after him I am the only person who knows this secret … The details I give outside of South America are unknown. Moreover, little is known about this mystery even in the countries that it touches in the most direct way."
Raposo set out on his expedition in 1743. His path lay from Baia (modern El Salvador) to the north, towards the San Francisco River. The group headed by him for a long time made its way through the Brazilian jungle, where there were no roads or human habitation. But once, after many hours of climbing to the top of the mountain, the travelers stood rooted to the spot: far below, covered with a light haze of fog, lay a huge city. A full-flowing river flowed nearby, the waters of the lake glistened smoothly. The city itself looked rather old, its walls were overgrown with lush vegetation, and most importantly, it was completely silent and there was not a single haze over the roofs.
Despite the fact that the Indian guides flatly refused to enter this mysterious settlement, saying that “this is a bad place, forbidden!” … the Portuguese decided to explore it. The city turned out to be absolutely empty, while there were no residents in it for a very long time. Raposo and his people walked under three arches made of huge slabs, above one of which they saw either an ornament or signs of some writing. Many houses are well preserved and amazed by the fact that they were built of stone blocks, tightly fitted to each other without any mortar. They were decorated with skillful stone carvings depicting unknown gods, demons and monsters.
A large column of black stone stood in a wide square. On it stood the figure of a man pointing north. Behind him were the ruins of a once beautiful palace. Black obelisks and square columns towered at the corners of the square. On the other side stood a huge, dilapidated building, decorated with images of animals and birds. And on the banks of the river, amazed Portuguese found the remains of a stone embankment.
Raposo carefully copied all the inscriptions he found, and also hid the coin he found, on which was an image of a kneeling youth, a bow, a crown and an unknown musical instrument.
Having examined the city, the Portuguese decided to explore the surroundings. Downstream they found a large waterfall and huge deposits of silver. But most of all they were struck by the caves carved into the rocks, the entrances to which were heaped up with huge boulders with some signs. The travelers could not remove them. Francisco Raposo reasoned like this: “There are probably many treasures left in the city and the caves. Remember the road, we will definitely come back here."
After several months of wandering, the Portuguese reached Bahia. Rasposo compiled a detailed account of the expedition and presented it to the Viceroy of Brazil. But they did not believe him, and the document was handed over to the archive. Whether the treasure hunter returned to the mysterious city lost in the selva is unknown.
And at the beginning of the 20th century, Rasposo's report was carefully studied by Colonel Fossett. He believed in the legend of the fabulously rich country of El Dorado, hidden in the impassable jungle of South America, and really wanted to find it. The famous writer Haggard once gave him a figurine made of black stone, which was covered with mysterious letters. To find out about her origin, the colonel turned to a medium who confirmed that this figurine was from an unknown land in South America.
This was enough for Fossett to organize another expedition to Brazil in 1925. He once said to his son Tom: “Selva hides great secrets with an impenetrable veil. Anyone who can penetrate or at least look out of this veil from the corner of his eye will discover the hidden secrets of the past and, perhaps, even the future of humanity. It's worth the risk, huh? And Colonel Fossett hit the road. A year later, the expedition disappeared.
The interest in the missing expedition was so great that even in the early 30s. every year more and more groups of people were sent out in search of her. Fossett and his youngest son, Brian, were also looking for him. In 1927, in Lima, a certain Frenchman told him that he had seen a crazy old man in the jungle, who allegedly called himself Colonel Fossett …
1936 - the famous psychic Geraldine Cummins said that she received a telepathic message from the colonel: he allegedly found "city X", but is sick and insane. Cummins received 4 more messages. The last such "communication session" took place in 1948, but not with a living traveler, but with his soul. Brian Fossett published in Great Britain the book "Unfinished Journey", in which he placed all of his father's documents. There is also a mention of the lost city in it.
Perhaps Colonel Fossett still managed to find his Atlantis and look beyond the veil of secrecy? And she, apparently, no longer wanted to let him go back to the modern world, or, probably, he himself made such a choice. It’s not without reason that Fossett wrote in one of his diaries: "I stood at a crossroads and, for better or worse, I don’t know, I chose the road leading into the forest."
V. Syadro, V. Sklyarenko