In Cusco, we toured the site of Sacsayhuaman. The name in Quechua means "the place where the eagle is sated". But when you hear it pronounced, it sounds like "Sexy Woman." Our guide was Dagmar and it was a great place to start to learn about the Incan culture and history.
Cusco was the center of the Inca empire - established as the imperial capital by what has been described to us as their greatest leader, Pachacutec. He developed Sacsayhuaman as a site for ceremonies and religious activities on the hill overlooking the city. He ordered that the city of Cusco be developed in the plan of a puma, one of three sacred animals of the Inca. [Condor for the sky, puma for the earth and snake for under the earth.]
Sacsayhuaman and it's surrounding hill form the head of the puma. The site is developed in zig-zag patters of stone, which were quarried near by and stacked more than 30 feet high. Some of the stones are the size of a VW bus and are still standing completely interlocked with each other with no mortar.
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| Baby llama, among many wandering the site |
Cusco was the center of the Inca empire - established as the imperial capital by what has been described to us as their greatest leader, Pachacutec. He developed Sacsayhuaman as a site for ceremonies and religious activities on the hill overlooking the city. He ordered that the city of Cusco be developed in the plan of a puma, one of three sacred animals of the Inca. [Condor for the sky, puma for the earth and snake for under the earth.]
Sacsayhuaman and it's surrounding hill form the head of the puma. The site is developed in zig-zag patters of stone, which were quarried near by and stacked more than 30 feet high. Some of the stones are the size of a VW bus and are still standing completely interlocked with each other with no mortar.
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