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Published: September 9th 2007
Joelle and I travelled to the Saqsaywaman Inca ruins on September 8, just outside of Cusco. Only 20% of the ruins remain, many of the original stones were used by the Spanish to construct churches and other structures. The amazing part of Saqsaywaman is that the stones have up to 11 angles in a single plane, the Incas did not have access to hard metals such as iron for tools, the weight of the stones (up to 180 metric tonnes!) and the rock quarry was 27km away. Saqsaywaman (pronounced sexy woman by our guide) was built around 1450 and is meant to be the head of a puma, one of the Inca Kings is said to have designed Cusco after the body of a Puma. The stones fit together with great precision, have no mortar and were designed to inter-lock with each other to resist earthquakes. Saqsaywaman is at an elevation of about 3800 meters above sea level. The quality of workmanship at this site is reported to be better than even Machu Picchu.
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Marshall
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Sexy Women Construction
All the shelving and storage space that you guys build...will it last aslong as 'sexy women'? Where are pictures in your Peruivan hats and cheap blankets wrapped around your shoulders?