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Incan Architecture

The Inca civilization has left an immense architectural legacy:
the lost city of Machu Picchu certainly one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world;
Inca walls that still support the most important buildings in Cusco, surviving various earthquakes and the impressive 500-year old agricultural terraces where Peruvians still grow food.

Terraces in Colca Valley

impressive 500-year old agricultural terraces where food is still grown

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The Incan architecture is characterized by the use of finely carved stones perfectly locked without the use of mortar, a building technique that impresses even today. The Inca worked stones with unparalleled precision and unusual shapes fitting them tightly together, as exemplified by the famous "twelve-cornered stone" found in a wall of the palace of the Inca Roca in Cusco. The most utilized rocks were granites or the soft calcareous rocks, like in Sacsayhuaman ramparts. Usually rocks were quarried close to the site of that particular construction utilising locally available rocks. However, the quarry might be several kilometres distant like in Ollantaytambo where huge blocks were quarried from the other side of the Urubamba Valley. There are still some doubts regarding how stones weighing hundreds of tons were fitted together with such a high precision in remarkable structures, without iron tools or knowledge of the wheel. The only logical hypothesis is that the measures and shape of the stones were preliminary taken making use of maquettes made of clay, or modeling long silver bands.
Even if largely modified during the colonial and more modern times Chinchero Pisaq and Ollantaytambo can be considered typical Inca towns, while in Cusco the original inca plan of the city can still be traced along the streets of the modern town.

Ollantaytambo

stones weighing hundreds of tons were fitted together with such a high precision

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Incan walls
Most of the Incan walls are found around Cusco and the Urubamba Valley in the Peruvian Andes. Beautiful examples are Sacsayhuaman, the fortress of Cusco, the Koricancha or temple of the sun the master piece of the Inca architecture, the wall that includes the famous 12-sided stone, and the beautiful six monoliths of red porphyry of the temple in Ollantaytambo in the Urubamba valley.
Typical of the Inca’s walls is the use of trapezoidal stones with perfect and polished junctures and a slight vertical inclination a combination of massiveness and precision. Constructed of ashlars laid in courses that get progressively thinner upwards, the walls have a pleasing appearance and a stability and balance that formed indestructible anti-seismic structures that were able to resist the huge earthquakes that destroyed other colonial buildings.

Koricancha

temple of the sun the master piece of the Inca architecture

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There are five basic models of Incan walls and stones:
the rustic type "Pirka": used in terraces and common houses,
the Cell Type: small polygonal limestone with the aspect similar to a honeycomb, we can find examples of this type in Chinchero.
the Enchased Type: made of igneous stones, examples are the Main Temple in Ollantaytambo, the Three-Window Temple in Machupicchu, Hatun Rumiyoq in Cusco, etc.
the Imperial Inca: consisting of stones of a regular dimensions with perfect and polished junctures like in Koricancha Temple.
the Cyclopean or Megalithic Type: with enormous dimensions of oddly shaped blocks. Examples are cyclopean walls contain individual blocks estimated to weigh over 100 tons of Sacsayhuaman fortress, and like the pink porfid of the Temple in Ollantaytambo.

Hatun Rumiyoq Inka wall

an example in Cusco of the enchased type wall, made of igneous stones

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Fountains and liturgical baths
Fountains were the water is flowing sometimes through a quite complex stone channels system, are common on Inca sites. The archaeological site of Tambomachay, the "Bath of the Inca" is a beautiful example. This site consists of massive stonewalls, at several levels, with elegant niches, and a series of water fountains cascading from channels hidden within the structure.
The water was brought through channels carved in the stone similar to those that can be seen at Pisac.
A water supply channel might feed a single fountain such as the Baño de la Ñusta in Ollantaytambo. But fountains and baths were also arranged in long series, such as at Phuyupatamarca, with six serial fountains; or like at Machu Picchu, with 16 fountains, each different from the rest, and with diverging and re-joining water channels.

Tambomachay

the "Bath of the Inca" a beautiful example of a series of water fountains cascading from channels hidden within the structure

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Agricultural architecture
Probably the most ambitious constructions undertaken by the Incas are the innumerable sets of agricultural terraces built on mountainsides and in river bottoms throughout the Inca Empire. Known as andenes, terraces were formed with stone retaining walls, holding good topsoil sometimes carried up the mountain from the valley below. Spectacular terraces at Pisac are still cultivated today. The individual terraces are accessed by stepping stones into the terrace walls. At Machu Picchu, the andenes of the "agricultural sector", likely could have produced foodstuffs for all the inhabitants of the city. Fertile valley bottomlands were also terraced and riverbanks walled to protect these richest lands from erosion, beautiful examples can be found in the Colca valley.
Adobe the Peruvian traditional house
Among the materials still used today since the Incan times we can find the adobe. Many buildings and even entire villages are made with this material. Adobe bricks are made with good quality clayey soil mixed with the "ichu", and in some cases with alpaca wool and finally sun dried. All these materials are mixed with water, placed in rectangular molds and dried with the sun. The adobe buildings are still preferred in the Andes because they are cheap and have good thermal properties.

Machu Picchu terraces

the andenes of the agricultural sector

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  Related Pages
  - Peru Stock Photography Index - Cities of Peru
  - Peru Stock Photography Index - The archaeological legacy
  - Peru Stock Photography Index - Incan Architecture
  - Peru Stock Photography Index - Colonial architecture
  - Peru Stock Photography Index - Natural Landscapes
  - Peru Stock Photography Index - Trekking and Hiking in Peru
  - Peru Stock Photography Index - Birdwatching
  - Peru Stock Photography Index - Culture & Traditions

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Terraces in Colca Valley

Ollantaytambo

Koricancha

Hatun Rumiyoq Inka wall

Tambomachay

Machu Picchu terraces

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