There are some special places to mention in Machu Picchu the first is the Temple of the sun. It is not actually oriented correctly to be a sun Temple and is really just an observatory. It is closed to the public now because some damn fools went in there and tried to chip off parts of it to get the special "energy". There is the Condor Temple which has a sculpture of a condor in the floor. The Condor was sacred and represented the highest form of the three spheres of the universe for the Inca. Royal people that died would sometimes have their bodies left in this area so that the Condors could come and consume them and then take them to the heavens . The Inca supposedly did not have a written language. But they did have a written language, it was a series of knots of different colors and different styles collected on cords called Quipu. The Spanish did not recognize these and thought of course they were the work of the devil. During the conquest they had all of these Quipu collected and taken to Cusco. There they were burned. It took 3 months of continuous burning to destroy all of them. Very few of these items remain and are still a mystery to a certain level. In one of the buildings there were two rounded areas that water could be poured into an at night a reflection of the sky would could be seen in these pools. This was used to educate the young people about the celestrial orientations and alignments. All along the edge of this room were posts that the knotted strings would have been hung from. Also there is a stone that represents the Southern Cross and it is aligned perfectly north south east and west. It also faces the Southern Cross from the Imperial Building. There was a whole series of Water Works that took water from Springs up in the mountains and presented them all the way through fountains throughout the city. This water was then available for all the people to use.
Temple of the Sun
Do unique rounded shape of the building and the Imperial style are most notable for this building
This is the stone on the inside of the Temple of the sun. Of course it was chipped by yay-hoos. But it has an intricate series of angles carved out of it that show all the different orientations of the sun throughout the year that are important to the Inca
A very unique combination of raw Rock and walls built here in The Condor Temple
This is the representation of the Commodore. The ruffle is around the feathers around his neck. The head is inset into the Rock and the Triangular shape represents the spread wings of the Condor
I just love the Condor Temple to one side is the pathway down into it
On the other side are the three niches where bodies could be tied and the Condor is could come and devour them
These two Rock circles could be filled with water and make pools that you could then reflect the Starlight and teach people from
The poles around this building where where the knotted strings would hang.
This building was never designed to have a roof
This is the Southern Cross Stone. One of the guys put his phone on it to show the exact orientation.
This is the back side of the Southern Cross Stone very cool
This would be one of the royal fountains. The Waterworks have been disrupted by the tree roots over the years and so the spring water does not make it to the city anymore
