The conquistadors that arrived in South America in the 15th Century may have been looking for a city of gold. Today, I found it.
Cusco city was built by the Inkans in the shape of a Puma, its head being a ruined fortress called Saqsayhuaman, the centre of the city being Qorikancha, the sun temple, situated at the Pumas genitals (so South American cultures have been macho since the beginning!)
Since arriving I have wondered at the Inkans incredible acomplishments. Their legacy of 600 year old ruins are phenomenal. On a recent (and wonderful) visit, my parents commented that Machu Picchu was the most impressive set of ruins they had seen, and they are very well travelled. It is the landscape that the ruins sit against; they are invariably at the top of mountains, surrounded by more mountains, lush green or higher and snow capped. They are remote and isolated, even with todays transport. It also the scale of the rocks used and perfect precision with which they are aligned to create magnificent, earthquake proof buildings. Some of the rocks weigh in at 130 tonnes. They were rolled over logs, from quarries up to 8 kilometres away, by thousands of Inkan workers. Beyond just constructing buildings, the huge stones create animals shapes, if you know where to look. Sacred animals and other symbols are also carved into the granite and limestone.
The Inkans had a intimate understanding of the sun that they worshipped. The precision with which the sun is used to create symbolism and spirituality continues to astonish me. At the solstices, shapes appear in the the shadows cast by the ruined temples; pumas, condors, people praying...
Besides designing their cities to embody sacred animal shapes, (Pisac is a condor, Ollantaytambo a llama, Machu Picchu a crocodile) they also built them to incorporate their exact knowledge of the suns movements. This morning at 6.30 I went down the hill from my house to witness ´the streets of gold´.
This phenomena occurs in the days around winter solstice. As the sun rises over the mountain it aligns precisely with a series of streets. These streets cross-section a slight incline. The sun enters the street at the bottom of the hill first, reflecting off the stone ground and walls to resemble shining gold. As the sun rises it illuminates the streets further up the hill, so one by one they light up. Looking down the road that connects them perpendicularly you can see the sunlight emerge from the end of each street, a gap of a few minutes before the next one lights up.
And so I wind up my last few days in this fabulous city, my home for the last three months. I feel sad of course, sad to goodbye my good friends, my house, the energy and vibrancy that this place emanates. But I cant complain, I am off to Brazil!
