The Sacred Valley of the Incas is a place with wonderful views of the Urubamba mountain range and the Inca archaeological sites that were built on top of the mountains that make this place an indispensable place to visit during your stay in the city of Cusco and previous visit to the citadel of Machupicchu.
The archaeological centers of the Sacred Valley of the Incas are:
PISAC
The archaeological center of Pisac is located on a mountain formed by numerous neighborhoods and different squares among which is the Intihuatana, an enclosure with fine finishes typical of its Inca religious structure.
Pisac is an ancient toponymic that comes from the quechua word “Pisaqa” referring to the partridge bird, a bird of the area that is related to spirituality and mysticism, later after colonization its name was changed to Pisac.
Pisac was built in the X – XI centuries during the expansion of the Inca empire.
It has an area of 4 kilometers and is made up of buildings that are grouped into several levels, where we can highlight the following distributions: the wall, aqueducts, water channels, gates, ceremonial centers, cemetery and terraces.
OLLANTAYTAMBO
The archaeological center of Ollantaytambo is located in the province of Ollantaytambo, entering the central square of the province of Ollantaytambo.
It is considered as a military, religious and administrative center, a great control point within the sacred valley.
This place is made up of 17 overlapping terraces built on large stones of pink granite material, with an average of walls that reach more than 4 meters high, with 2 meters thick.
The walls of the royal house of the Sun have of main characteristic an internal inclination, which is composed of 6 blocks of enormous stones, attached with joints of small stones that form the main altar, being the main quarry located to 6 kilometers the denominated quarry of Cachicata located to the left margin of the river Vilcanota that helped in the proportion of stones for the constructions.
CHINCHERO
The archaeological site of Chinchero was an urban center in Inca times, during the period of the Inca Tupac Yupanqui, in this place is this perfect place to build his Panaca (royal palace) for the excellent strategic location with Cusco, the archaeological site of Chinchero has terraces, shrines, baths, and its great royal palace in which today stands the temple of the Virgin of Nativity.
Also within the archaeological site we can find 3 Inca shrines carved in limestone outcrops with designs of seats, staircases, cupboards, water channels dedicated to a religious purpose whose names were Titiqaqa, Pumaqaqa and Chincana that are of limestone outcrops carved in relief art with zooform representations.
The terraces in Chinchero are built in a trapezoidal shape and were used for agricultural production in Inca times.
MORAY
The archeological site of Moray is located 7 km from the district of Maras in the province of Urubamba in the Cusco region, 38 km from the city of Cusco.
Maras Moray is one of the tourist attractions belonging to the Sacred Valley of the Incas.
The name Moray comes from the quechua language, it is related to the corn harvest that meant Aymoray, also the name of the month of May that also bears the name of Aymoray and is also related to the dehydrated potato that is the moraya or moray.
The archaeological center of Moray is located at 3500 meters above sea level, characterized by a diversity of microclimates, which allowed agriculture in Inca times through microclimates that have each platform in relation to the other. The climate varies according to the seasons of the year, in rainy seasons (October – March) has an average of 20 ° C with a decrease to 7 ° C and in dry season (April – September) has an average of 22 ° C with a decrease to 3 ° C.
MACHUPICCHU
Machupicchu is located in the eastern mountain range in southern Peru, within the Andean chain at 2430 meters above sea level in the province of Urubamba in the region of Cusco. Machupicchu is considered as the perfect work in Inca architecture and engineering, due to its constructions and finishes that give origin to the ruler Pachacutec.
