Machu Picchu
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Machu Picchu ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmatʃu ˈpitʃu] , Quechua : Machu Pikchu [ˈmɑtʃu ˈpixtʃu] , "Old Peak") is a pre-Columbian 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level . [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Machu Picchu is located in the Cusco Region of Peru, South America . It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru , which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World .
Machu Picchu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Machu Picchu Peru - a visual guide to the lost city of the Incas
Part of what Bingham called the Prison Group, the Temple of the Condor contains large niches in its underground vaults that, according to him, may have been used for binding the wrists of prisoners. Again, not all experts agree and tend more towards the idea that it was another temple, particularly as there appears to be an altar in a natural fissure of the rock. At the base of the hollow, one of the rocks has the outline of a condor with a clearly defined head and neck.Temple of the Condor, Machu Picchu
The Temple of the Condor is a three-dimensional figure of a bird represented by the head and neck feathers of a condor carved into the stone floor, with natural rock formations behind representing the wings. It is thought that the head of the condor was used as a sacrificial altar. A small cave is located in the back of the temple in which an Incan mummy was found.
A unique temple in Machu Picchu is the Temple of the Condor. This is a small area in the Eastern Urban Sector. The condor is South America's largest bird and was sacred to the Incas. This temple honors the condor by using the natural rock formation as the wings and providing a stone at the base for the body.
