The Inca Empire
Additional information about the Incas
from Ms-Hols McGrane's trip to Peru in March 2004

Cuzco

The many faces of Peru photos taken during Ms. Hos-McGrane's visit to Pero in March 2004 Click on image for larger view.

Cuzo was the capital of the Inca Empire. It was founded in the twelfth century by Manco Capac, the first Inca who was supposed to be the son of the sun. The name Cuzco (which is qosqo in Quechua, the local language) means “the Earth’s naval” and it describes where Manco Capac plunged a golden rod into the ground until it disappeared.

The ninth Inca, Pachacutec, extended the Inca empire out from the Cuzco valley by conquering other highland tribes throughout the central Andes. In Cuzco itself he planned the shape of the city so that it resembled a puma, diverted rivers, built agricultural terraces and many buildings including the Coricancha (Golden Courtyard). The Empire continued to expand under the tenth Inca, Tupac Yupanqui, Pachacutec’s son, and eventually extended from Quito in Ecuador to Santiago in Chile. The eleventh Inca,

Huayna Capac, was the last to rule over a united empire and shortly before he died he divided him empire between his two sons. This unfortunately resulted in civil war as neither son wished to share power. At the same time, Pizarro landed in northern Ecuador and marched south, conquering the Incas with the superior Spanish weapons and fighting from horseback. Following the conquest of the Inca the Spanish moved the capital to Lima because they needed to a strong base by the sea to maintain links with Spain.

The Coricancha

The word Coricancha means “golden courtyard” in Quechua. The temple walls were covered with solid gold sheets and there were solid gold and silver statues and altars. Within months of the Spanish arriving in Cuzco all this gold had been melted down.

The Coricancha was the centre for many of the Inca religious rituals, for example mummified bodies of past Incas were kept in the temple and brought out every day so that food and drink could be offered to them before being ceremonially burnt. Priests also used the temple as an observatory. The Inca walls of the Coricancha are the finest in Peru and have remained undamaged by two major earthquakes.

Nearby Ruins

Pizarro himself was killed in the battle to retake Sacsayhuaman Click on image for larger view.

A little way out of Cuzco are the ruins of Sacsayhuaman, Qenko,, Puca Pucara and Tambo Machay.

Sacsayhuaman is a huge ruin, although the remains are only about a fifth of the original building as the Spanish tore down the walls to use the blocks to build their homes in Cuzco. Sacsayhuaman, which actually means “satisfied falcon” was the head of the puma, Cuzco was the body, and there is a major fortification which is made up of a zigzag wall which represents the teeth of the puma. The fort was the site of a rebellion two years after Pizarro entered Cuzco, when Manco Inca recaptured Sacsayhuaman and used it as his base to attack Cuzco. Pizarro himself was killed in the battle to retake Sacsayhuaman.

A little further north is the site of Qenko, which means “zigzag”. This large limestone rock is covered with carvings and zigzag channels which are thought to have been used for blood draining out of ritual sacrifices.

Puca Pucara, a little further away, is a small site known as the “red fort”.

Tambo Machay is a ceremonial stone bath.

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu, the best of the Inca ruins, was discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911 Click on image for larger view.

Machu Picchu, the best of the Inca ruins, was discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911. The Inca Trail enters Machu Picchu at Intipunku, the Gate of the Sun, and ends at the Hut of the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock, a building that has been restored with a thatched roof. Behind this hut is a carved rock used for mummification. Near the hut is a series of 16 ceremonial baths and the Temple of the Sun, which contains very fine stonework.

Inside the temple is an altar and a window known as the Serpent Window. Below the temple is an altar carved with sacred niches. Mummies were discovered here, giving it the name of the Royal Tomb. The Sacred Plaza is surrounded on 3 sides by important buildings, the Temple of the Three Windows, the Principal Temple and the House of the High Priest and the fourth side is a lookout platform.Behind the Principal Temple is a small Sacristy with carved niches for the storage of ceremonial objects.

Behind the Sacristy is a staircase up to the Intihuatana, a carved rock pillar used by astronomers to predict the solstices. Other areas of Machu Picchu contain a prison, industrial and residential buildings. From the Central Plaza it is possible to climb up to Huayna Picchu and to visit the Temple of the Moon.