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Incas: Machu Picchu
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Of the many Peru tours offered by Adventure Life Journeys, the Incas and Rainforest Peru trip is one of the most unique. In addition to hiking the Inca Trail to the mystical Machu Picchu, this Peru tour includes a homestay with the Quechua people of Lake Titicaca, and a visit to an Amazon jungle lodge where you'll discover the amazing flora and fauna of the Amazon rainforest
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Although the Incas produced many ornaments and figurines of gold and silver, very few of these have remained. This is because the Spaniards, in their greed for precious metals, melted down the jewelry and statues to ship to Spain. The outstanding art of the Incas that remains are the ruins of magnificent temples and large cities they constructed, such as the city of Machu Picchu. The ruins of this large city are located on a high ridge in the Andes northwest of Cuzco. The buildings are constructed of massive blocks of white granite, carefully shaped and fitted together without mortar. Archaeologists are still trying to figure out how the Incas were able to transport stone blocks weighing 10-15 tons to the building site without using wheeled vehicles.
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The Incas built a notable civilization in western South America in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The center of their empire was in present-day Cuzco, Peru. Machu Picchu is an ancient fortress city of the Incas in the Andes Mountains near Cuzco. Built on the steep slopes at the crest of the Andes Mountains, with terraced scientific and agricultural areas, Machu Picchu features wonderful, almost jointless stonework. The Incas were superb craftsmen and thoughtful architect-engineers.
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At Machu Picchu, the Incas final home, one is infused by mystery. The hand of man competes with divine Creation, building a scene of overwhelming serenity. This was the last fortress of a civilization in which social and economic organization permitted neither misery nor unemployment, as production, consumption and demographic distribution reached almost mathematical equilibrium. The evidence of the definitive abandonment poses an enigmatic question: Was Machu Picchu the Masada of the Incas?
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Incas developed a very functional style of public architecture that was remarkable for its advanced Engineering and fine stone building techniques. The cities plan was based on a system of main avenues intersected by smaller roads that converged on a main open square surrounded by municipal buildings and churches. The structure was a of only one floor of a perfect assembly of cut stones; they used ... brick of ground and straw on the coastal regions. For the construction of large monuments like the Sacschuaman, large fortress near Cuzco, massive blocs on a polygon shape were put together with an extraordinary precision. In the mountain regions, like the spectacular Andean city located in Machu Picchu, the Inca architecture reflected often ingenious adaptations of the natural relief.
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Machu Picchu, "The Lost City of the Incas", puts the exclamation point on their incredible achievements. Built on a narrow mountain plateau 7,000 feet above sea level, it was accessible only by foot, and only then to those who by the standards of today were in top physical condition. Yet, the Incas somehow brought hundreds of massive stones to the site for its walls and dwellings creating a city inhabited by more than 3,000 people, They grew their food on irrigated terraces carved from the mountainside.
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