had perished from smallpox before the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadores. Machu Picchu is believed to be a sacred religious site because it is built on and around mountains that hold high religious importance in the Inca culture. The site in position relative to sacred landscape features such as its mountains, are purportedly to be in alignment with key astronomical events important to the Incas.
At the highest point of the mountain in which Machu Picchu was named after, there are artificial platforms where the Inca ritual offerings were found buried under them. These platforms are also found in other Incan religious sites.
Another theory states that Machu Picchu was an Inca Illaqta, a settlement built to control the economy of conquered regions, while another states that it may have been built as a prison for a select few who had committed grievous crimes against the Inca society. There was also another theory proposed suggesting the city was built for the coronation of kings (for the gods to live in).
The Site received significant publicity after the National Geographic Society devoted their entire April 1913 issue to Machu Picchu.
Peru declared Machu Picchu and its surrounding area as a Historical Sanctuary, in 1981. In 1983 UNESCO described Machu Picchu as "an absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilization", and it was subsequently designated a World Heritage Site.
No comments:
Post a Comment