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MACHU PICCHU

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Because our itineraries are subject to change, we have designed our tour books alphabetically in the following format:

• Country

• City

• Site

*Itinerary subject to change.

Peru

Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Peruvian territory was home to ancient cultures, spanning from the Norte Chico civilization, one of the oldest in the world, to the Inca Empire, the largest state in PreColumbian America. In 1532, a group of conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro defeated and captured Inca Emperor Atahualpa. Ten years later, the Spanish Crown established the Viceroyalty of Peru, which included most of its South American colonies. Viceroy Francisco de Toledo reorganized the country in the 1570’s with silver mining as its main economic activity and indigenous forced labor as its primary workforce. Peruvian bullion provided revenue for the Spanish Crown and fueled a complex trade network that extended as far as Europe and the Philippines. However, by the 18th century, declining silver production and economic diversification greatly diminished royal income. In response, the Crown enacted the Bourbon Reforms, a series of edicts that increased taxes and partitioned the Viceroyalty of Peru. The new laws provoked Túpac Amaru II's rebellion and other revolts, all of which were defeated.

In the early 19th century, while most of South America was swept by wars for independence, Peru remained a royalist stronghold. The elite hesitated between emancipation and loyalty to the Spanish Monarchy, but independence was ﬁnally achieved in 1821 only after occupation by the military campaigns of José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar. During the early years of the Republic, endemic struggles for power between military leaders caused political instability. Peru enjoyed a period of stability under the presidency of Ramón Castilla through increased state revenues from guano exports. However, by the 1870’s, these resources had been squandered, the country

was heavily indebted, and political in-ﬁghting was again on the rise.

Peru was defeated by Chile in the 1879–1883 War of the Pacific, losing the provinces of Arica and Tarapacá in the treaties of Ancón and Lima. Internal struggles after the war were followed by a short period of stability which then turned into rivalry between opposing political, military and civilian forces that vied for power throughout the first half of the 1900’s. In 1968, the Armed Forces led by General Juan Velasco Alvarado, staged a coup against President Fernando Belaunde. The new regime undertook radical reforms aimed at fostering development but failed to gain widespread support. In 1975, General Francisco Morales Bermúdez forcefully replaced Velasco, paralyzed reforms and oversaw the reestablishment of democracy. During the 1980’s, Peru faced a considerable external debt, ever-growing inflation, a surge in drug trafficking, and massive political violence. Under the presidency of Alberto Fujimori (1990–2000), the country started to recover. But accusations of authoritarianism, corruption, and human rights violations forced his resignation after the controversial 2000 elections. Since the end of the Fujimori regime, Peru has tried to fight corruption while sustaining economic growth.

Peru is a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions. Its geography varies from the arid plains of the Paciﬁc coast to the peaks of the Andes Mountains and the tropical forests of the Amazon Basin. It is a developing country with a high Human Development Index score and a poverty level around 31%. Its main economic resources include agriculture, ﬁshing, mining, and manufacturing of products such as textiles.

The Peruvian population, estimated at 29.5 million, is multiethnic, including Amer-indians, Europeans, Africans, and Asians. The main language spoken is Spanish, although a signiﬁcant number of Peruvians speak Quechua or other native languages

Religion

The Peruvian government is closely allied with the Catholic Church. Article 50 of the Constitution recognizes the Catholic Church's role as "an important element in the historical, cultural, and moral development of the nation." Catholic clergy and laypersons receive state remuneration in addition to the stipends paid to them by the Church. This applies to the country's 52 bishops, as well as to some priests whose ministries are located in towns and villages along the borders. In addition, each diocese receives a monthly

institutional subsidy from the Government. An agreement signed with the Vatican in 1980 grants the Catholic Church special status in Peru. The Catholic Church receives preferential treatment in education, tax beneﬁts, immigration of religious workers, and other areas in accordance with the agreement.

Although the Constitution states that there is freedom of religion, the law mandates that all schools, public and private, impart religious education as part of the curriculum throughout the education process (primary and secondary). Catholicism is the only religion taught in public schools. In addition, Catholic religious symbols are found in all government buildings and public places.

Culture

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) has seen rapid growth in Peru and claims more than 480,000 members. A functioning community of the Bahá'í Faith was founded in Peru in the 1930’s with the beginning of the arrival of coordinated pioneers from the United States. In 2005, the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated about 41,000 Bahá'ís resided in Peru. The statistics for Islam in Peru estimate a total Muslim population of 5,000, largely based in the capital of Lima.

Peruvian culture is primarily rooted in Amer-indian and Spanish traditions, though it has also been inﬂuenced by various African, Asian, and European ethnic groups. Peruvian artistic traditions date back to the elaborate pottery, textiles, jewelry, and sculpture of Pre-Inca cultures. The Incas maintained these crafts and made architectural achievements including the construction of Machu Picchu. Baroque dominated colonial art, though modiﬁed by native traditions. During this period, most art focused on religious subjects; the numerous churches of the era and the paintings of the Cuzco School are representative. The Arts stagnated after independence until the emergence of Indigenismo in the early 20th century. Since the 1950’s, Peruvian art has been eclectic and shaped by both foreign and local art currents.

Peruvian music has Andean, Spanish, and African roots. In pre-Hispanic times, musical expressions varied widely in each region; the quena  and the tinya, a leather drum,  were two common instruments. Spaniards introduced new instruments, such as the guitar and the harp, which led to

Cuisine

the development of crossbred instruments like the charango.  African contributions to Peruvian music include its rhythms and the cajón,  a percussion instrument like a drum.

Due to a lack of ingredients from their home countries, immigrants to Peru modified their traditional cuisines by using ingredients available in Peru. The three traditional staples of Peruvian cuisine are corn, potatoes, and ajies (chilies). Peruvian chili peppers are not spicy hot but serve to give taste and color to dishes. Rice often accompanies dishes in Peruvian cuisine, and the regional sources of foods and local traditions give rise to countless varieties of preparation and dishes. These ingredients are combined with a number of staples originally brought by the Spanish, such as rice, wheat and meat (such as beef, pork and chicken). Many traditional foods—such as quinoa, kiwicha (the grain also known as amaranth), chili peppers, and several roots and tubers have increased in popularity in recent decades, reflecting a revival of interest in native Peruvian foods and culinary techniques. Only a few varieties of maize are commonly available. The most common type has very large kernels and is not sweet. The second common variety is a type of fibrous purple corn that is not eaten but is used to make chicha morada and mazamorra morada (beverages). The third variety is a type of sweet corn popular in the United States that is mainly purchased by foreigners because of its high price. Occasionally one finds dried kernels of four varieties of multicolored corn, which are used in stews or soups.

The Sweet potato is native to Central America and was domesticated here at least 5,000 years ago. The much lower molecular diversity found in Peru and Ecuador suggests that the sweet potato was introduced here from Central America. Only two varieties of sweet potato are commonly available for sale in Peru. One has dry orange flesh and light tan skin and tastes sweet. The other has purple skin, is white and brown inside, and is only moderately sweet. Occasionally another variety, characterized by small tubers and dark skin, is available. Potatoes are available in more variety. The two most common potatoes are a white flesh type and a more expensive yellow flesh type.

Creole cuisine is widespread in Lima, Peru. The only other major international cuisines with a large presence are Chinese (known locally as chifa) and Italian. These, however, have been heavily modiﬁed due to a shortage or lack of authentic ingredients.

The city bakeries are quite popular with Peruvians. One may find Peruvians standing in line in almost every bakery waiting for freshly baked white bread from 6 to 9 am and 4 to 6 pm. The majority of Peruvians tend to eat bread for breakfast along with coffee or tea. Many bakeries sell white bread sprinkled with bran for health conscious customers as whole wheat flour is extremely hard to find. However, even this bread is often heavily fortified with lard, shortening or butter. Authentic whole wheat bread is imported from Europe and sold at upscale grocery stores. A few coastal cities have bakeries that produce "bollos," which are loaves of bread baked in stone and wood-ovens from the Andes.

Frequently sold by street vendors are tamales: boiled corn flour with meat or cheese wrapped in a banana leaf. They are similar to humitas, which consist of corn mixed with spices, sugar, onions, filled with pork and olives and finally wrapped in the leaves of corn husks. Tamales are a common breakfast food, often served with lime and/or "Salsa Criolla."

Another favorite food found in many restaurants is Papas a la huancaína (Huancayostyle potatoes), a dish consisting of sliced boiled potatoes, served on a bed of lettuce with a slightly spicy cheese sauce with olives. Even if the name says that it is from Huancayo, it is actually from Chosica.

Ceviche, often spelled "cebiche" in Peru, is the ﬂagship dish of coastal cuisine, and one of the most popular dish among Peruvians. It consists of Andean chili peppers, onions and acidic aromatic lime, a variety brought by the Spaniards. A spicy dish, it consists generally of bite-size pieces of white ﬁsh (such as corvina or white sea bass), marinated raw in lime juice mixed with chilies. Ceviche is served with raw onions, boiled sweet potatoes (camote), toasted corn (cancha), and sometimes a local green seaweed yuyo.

Cuy chactado is a dish more popular in the highlands than the coast. It is a meal of fried guinea pig. Often the indigenous women of the Peruvian Andes will raise the guinea pigs in their huts where they run around loose on the ﬂoors of the dwellings. Prior to consumption they can reach a surprisingly large size. Besides the use of guinea pigs as separate meals, they are often cooked in a Pachamanca  with other meats and vegetables.

Cusco Region

Cusco, also spelled Cuzco, is a region in Peru. Its capital is the city of Cusco, the capital of the Ancient Inca Empire. Cusco's best communal cultivated land is the plateau Pampa de Anta. It is located at around 9,843 feet above sea level, and is used to cultivate mainly high altitude crops such as potatoes, tarwi (edible lupine), barley and quinoa.

Cusco

Cusco, often spelled Cuzco, is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cusco Province. In 2007, the city had a population of 358,935 which was triple the ﬁgure of 20 years ago. Located on the eastern end of the Knot of Cuzco, its elevation is around 11,200 ft. Cusco was the site of the historic capital of the Inca Empire and is a major tourist destination, receiving almost 2 million visitors a year. It is designated as the Historical Capital of Peru by the Constitution of Peru.

Cusco has a subtropical highland climate which is generally dry and temperate, with two deﬁned seasons. The dry season lasts from April through October, with abundant sunshine, and occasional night time freezes: July is the coolest month with an average of 49.3 °F. The wet season lasts from November to March, with night frost less common: November averages 56.1 °F. Although frost and hail are common, snow is virtually unheard of. The only snowfall ever recorded was in June 1911.

The aboriginal name for this city was Qusqu. Although it was used in Quechua, its origin has been found in the Aymara language. The word itself originated in the phrase qusqu wanka (Rock of the Owl), attending to the foundational myth of the Ayar Siblings. According to this legend, Ayar Auca (Ayar Awqa) got wings and ﬂew to the site of the future city and transformed into a rock to mark possession of the land by his linage.

Top: Plaza de Armas, Middle left: Temple of Qoricancha, Middle right: Aerial view of Cusco, Bottom left: Sacsayhuamán, Bottom right: Cathedral of Cusco

The Spanish conquistadors adopted the local name, transliterating it into Spanish as Cuzco or less often Cozco. Cuzco was the standard spelling on ofﬁcial documents and chronicles during colonial times. In 1976, the City Mayor of Cuzco signed an ordinance banning the traditional spelling and ordering the use of a new one, Cusco, in the municipality publications. Nineteen years later, on 23 June 1990, the local authorities made a brand new spelling ofﬁcial: Qosqo

The Killke people occupied the region from 900 to 1200 AD, prior to the arrival of the Incas. Carbon-14 dating of Sacsayhuaman, the walled complex outside Cusco, has demonstrated that the Killke culture constructed the fortress around 1100 AD. The Inca later expanded and occupied the complex. In 2008, archaeologists discovered the ruins of an ancient temple, roadway and aqueduct system at Sacsayhuaman. This ﬁnd, plus the results of excavations in 2007 when another temple was found at the edge of the fortress, indicates religious as well as military use of the facility.

Cuzco was the capital of the Inca Empire from the 13th century until 1532. Many believe that the city was planned as an efﬁgy in the shape of a puma, a sacred animal. Under the Inca, the city had two sectors: the urin and hanan. Each was further divided to encompass two of the four provinces, Chinchasuyu (NW), Antisuyu (NE), Qontisuyu (SW) and Qullasuyu (SE). A road led from each of these quarters to the corresponding quarter of the empire. Each local leader was required to build a house in the city and live part of the year in Cuzco, but only in the quarter that corresponded to the quarter of the empire in which he had territory. After the rule of Pachacuti, when an Inca died, his title went to one son and his property was given to a corporation controlled by his other relatives (the process was called split inheritance).

Each title holder had to build a new house and add new lands to the empire in order to own the land his family needed to maintain after his death.

According to Inca legend, the city was built by Sapa Inca Pachacuti, the man who transformed the Kingdom of Cuzco from a sleepy city-state into the vast empire of Tahuantinsuyu. Archaeological evidence, however, points to a slower, more organic growth of the city beginning before Pachacuti. The city was constructed according to a deﬁnite plan, and two rivers were channeled

around the city. Archaeologists such as Larry Coben have suggested the city plan was replicated at other sites throughout the empire.

The first Spaniards arrived in the city on 15 November 1533. Francisco Pizarro officially arrived in Cuzco on 23 March 1534, renaming it the "Very noble and great city of Cuzco". The many buildings constructed after the Hispanic invasion have a mixture of Spanish influence with Inca indigenous architecture, including the Santa Clara and San Blas neighborhoods. The Spanish destroyed many Inca buildings, temples and palaces and used the remaining walls as bases for the construction of the new city.

Cuzco became the center for Spanish colonization and the spread of Christianity in the Andean world. It was very prosperous due to agriculture, cattle raising, and mining, as well as trade with Spain. The Spanish colonists constructed many churches and convents, as well as the  Cathedral of Santo Domingo, a university and the Archbishopric. Just as the Inca built on top of Killke structures, Spanish buildings were based on the massive stone walls built by the Inca.

A major earthquake on 21 May 1950 caused severe localized damage in Cuzco. The Dominican Priory and Church of Santo Domingo, which were built on top of the impressive Qoricancha (Temple of the Sun), were among the colonial era buildings affected. The city's Inca architecture, however, withstood the earthquake. The granite retaining walls built out of huge, tightly-interlocking blocks of stone of the Qoricancha became exposed due to the quake and has remained visible since.

The original walls and ﬂoors of Qoricancha were once covered in sheets of solid gold, and its adjacent courtyard was ﬁlled with golden statues. Spanish reports tell of its opulence that was "fabulous beyond belief". When the Spanish required the Inca to raise a ransom in gold for the life of their leader Atahualpa, most of the gold was collected from Qoricancha.

The Plaza de Armas, known as the "Square of the warrior" in the Inca era, is a plaza that has been the scene of several important events in the history of this

Local weavers of each area practice skills that have been passed down from generation to generation. The designs, colors and quality of the textiles vary from one region to another and play an important part in deﬁning personal and community identity. Many of the symbols portrayed on the weavings are visual metaphors representing the relationship that the Quechua people have with the physical and spiritual world around them.

Many of the textiles on sale in Cusco are hand woven from alpaca or sheep's wool. The yarn has been hand spun on drop-spindles and often colored using natural dyes made from plant extracts, cochineal (extract from insect larvae) or mineral oxides. The weaving is then produced on a loom. Larger items such as shawls or ponchos may take several months to make. The weaver gains tremendous personal satisfaction upon completing such a weaving. In some markets such as in Chinchero, the weavers can often be seen selling their own work directly to the public.

city, such as the proclamation by Francisco Pizarro in the conquest of Cuzco. Similarly, it was the scene of the death of Túpac Amaru II, considered the indigenous leader of the resistance. The Spanish built stone arcades around the plaza that endure to this day. The main cathedral and the Church of La Compañía both open directly onto the plaza where almost daily, a parade can be seen in the square celebrating different saints or the current holiday.

As the headquarter for the Inca Empire, Cuzco was also an important agricultural region. It was a natural reserve for thousands of native Peruvian species, including around 2,000 varieties of potato cultivated by the people. Recently many fusion and neo-Andean restaurants have developed in Cuzco, in which the cuisine is prepared with modern techniques and incorporates a blend of traditional Andean and international ingredients. Also, a cacao and chocolate museum, ChocoMuseo, recently opened in the center of the city. Its purpose is to teach people about Peruvian cacao and the process of making artisanal chocolate.

Sites of Interest

Kenko (from the Quechua q'inqu meaning labyrinth) is one of the largest huacas (holy places) in the Cusco Region. Many huacas were based anciently on naturally occurring rock formations. A monolithic alter representing a sacred puma stands out in this rock sanctuary. Kenko was believed to be a place where sacriﬁces and mummiﬁcation took place.

Koricancha or Qurikancha has many meanings: in Quechua, Quri means gold, kancha means enclosure; originally it was named Inti Kancha, in Quechua inti means sun or Inti Wasi which is Quechua for "sun house". This masterpiece was the most important temple in the Inca Empire, dedicated primarily to Inti, the Sun God. Not only was Koricancha, the Temple of the Sun, one of the most revered temples of the capital city of Cusco, it was the main astronomical observatory for the Incas.

About 4,000 priests and their attendants once lived within its confines. The walls and floors were covered in sheets of solid gold, and its adjacent courtyard was filled with golden statues. The huge gold sun disc reflected the sun and bathed the temple in light. During the summer solstice, the sun still shines directly into a niche where only the Inca chieftain was permitted to sit.

Spanish reports tell of its opulence that was "fabulous beyond belief". When the Spanish required the Inca to raise a ransom in gold for the life of the leader Atahualpa, most of the gold was collected from Koricancha. But the blood money was paid in vain.

The Spanish colonists built the Church of Santo Domingo on the site, demolishing the temple and using its foundations for the cathedral. Construction took most of a century. This is one of numerous sites where the Spanish incorporated Inca stonework into the structure of a colonial building. Major earthquakes severely damaged the church, but the Inca stone walls, built out of huge, tightlyinterlocking blocks of stone, still stand due to their sophisticated stone masonry. Nearby is an underground archaeological museum, which contains numerous interesting pieces, including mummies, textiles, and sacred idols from the site. The site now also includes the Church and Convent of Santo Domingo.

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Puca Pucara is a site of military ruins near Cusco, Peru. This fort is made of large walls, terraces, and staircases and was part of defense of Cusco in particular and the Inca Empire in general. Puca Pucara means "Red Fort" in Quechua, and comes from the red color of the rocks at dusk. Puca Pucara is an example of military architecture that also functioned as an administrative center.

Sacsayhuamán is a walled complex on the northern outskirts of the city of Cusco, the former capital of the Inca Empire. The complex, like many other Inca constructions, is made of large polished dry-stone walls, each boulder carefully cut to ﬁt together tightly without mortar. Located on a steep hill that overlooks the city at an altitude of 12,142 ft, it contains an impressive view of the valley to the southeast. Surface collections of pottery at Sacsayhuaman indicate that the earliest occupants of the hill top date back at least a millennium.

Because of its immense terrace walls and its location high above Cusco, this area of Sacsayhuaman is frequently referred to as a fortress. The importance of its military functions was highlighted in 1556 when Manco Inca lay siege to Cuzco. Much of the ﬁghting occurred in and round Sacsayhuaman as it was critical for maintaining control over the city. It is clear from descriptions of the siege, as well as from excavations at the site, that there were towers on its summit as well as a series of other buildings. For example Pedro Sancho, who visited the complex before the siege, mentions the labyrinth like quality of the complex and the fact that it held a great number of storage rooms ﬁlled with a wide variety of items. He also notes that there were buildings with large windows that looked over the city. These structures, like so much of the site, have long since been destroyed.

Other early accounts of Cuzco indicate that Sacsayhuaman included a Sun Temple, which suggests that the complex was the focus of ritual activities as well. The large plaza area, capable of holding thousands of people, is well designed for ceremonial activities and several of the large structures at the site may also have been used during rituals. The longest of the three walls is about 1,312 ft and they are about 20 ft tall. Estimates for the weight of the largest limestone blocks vary from 128 tons to almost 200 tons. Following the siege of Cuzco, the Spaniards began to use Sacsayhuaman as a source of stones for building Spanish Cuzco and within a few years much of the complex was demolished. The site was destroyed block-by-block to build the new governmental and religious buildings, as well as the houses of the wealthiest Spaniards. In the words of Garcilaso de la Vega “to save themselves the expense, effort and delay with which the Indians worked the stone, they pulled down all the smooth masonry in the walls. There is indeed not a house in the city that has not been made of this stone, or at least the houses built by the Spaniards.” Today, only the stones that were too large to be easily moved remain at the site.

Tambomachay or Tampumachay (from Quechua: tanpu mach'ay means resting place) is an archaeological site associated with the Inca Empire, located near Cusco. An alternate local name is the El Baño del Inca, "The Bath of the Inca". It consists of a series of aqueducts, canals and waterfalls from a spring that run through the terraced rocks. The function of the site is uncertain. It may have served as a ceremonial washing area for religious rites, or as a military outpost guarding the approaches to Cusco by employing a series of signal ﬁres, or as a spa for the Incan political elite, or it may have been all of the above.

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu (Quechua: Machu Pikchu means Old Peak) is a pre-Columbian, 15thcentury Inca site located 7,970 ft above sea level, 50 miles northwest of Cusco. It is in the Cusco Region of Peru, situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley through which the Urubamba River ﬂows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most famous icon of the Inca World

The Incas started building the "estate" around 1400 AD, but abandoned it as an ofﬁcial site for the Inca rulers a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of what the structures originally looked like. By 1976, thirty percent of Machu Picchu had been restored. The restoration work continues to this day.

Since the site was never known to the Spanish during their conquest, it

is highly signiﬁcant as a relatively intact cultural site. Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and in 2007, it was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll.

The ruins of Machu Picchu are divided into two main sections by a wall and are known as the Urban and Agricultural Sectors. The Agricultural Sector is further subdivided into Upper and Lower sectors, while the Urban Sector is split into East and West sectors, separated by wide plazas.

The central buildings of Machu Picchu use the classical Inca architectural style of polished dry-stone walls of regular shape. The Incas were masters of this technique, called ashlar, in which blocks of stone are cut to ﬁt together tightly without mortar. Many junctions in the central city are so perfect that it is said not even a blade of grass ﬁts between the stones.

Some Inca buildings were constructed using mortar, but by Inca standards this was quick, shoddy construction, and was not used in the building of important structures. Peru is a highly seismic land, and mortar-free construction was and is more earthquake-resistant than using mortar. The stones of the dry-stone walls built by the Incas can move slightly and resettle without the walls collapsing.

Inca walls had numerous design details that helped protect them against collapsing in an earthquake. Doors and windows are trapezoidal and tilt inward from bottom to top; corners usually are rounded; inside corners often incline slightly into the rooms; and "L"shaped blocks often were used to tie outside corners of the structure together. These walls do not rise straight from bottom to top, but are offset slightly from row to row.

The Incas never used the wheel in any practical manner. Its use in toys demonstrates that the principle was well-known to them, but it was not applied in their engineering. The lack of strong draft animals, as well as steep terrain and dense vegetation issues, may have rendered the wheel impractical. How they moved and placed the enormous blocks of stones remains a mystery, although the general belief is that they used hundreds of men to push the stones up inclined planes. A few of the stones still have

knobs on them that could have been used to lever them into position. It is believed that after the stones were placed, the Incas would have sanded the knobs away, but a few were overlooked.

The space is composed of 140 structures or features, including temples, sanctuaries, parks, and residences that include houses with thatched roofs. There are more than one hundred ﬂights of stone steps — often completely carved from a single block of granite — and numerous water fountains. These were interconnected by channels and water-drains perforated in the rock that were designed for the original irrigation system. Evidence suggests that the irrigation system was used to carry water from a holy spring to each of the houses in turn.

According to archaeologists, the urban sector of Machu Picchu was divided into three great districts: the Sacred District, the Popular District to the south, and the District of the Priests and the Nobility. Located in the ﬁrst zone are the primary archaeological treasures: the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun  and the Room of the Three Windows. These were dedicated to Inti, their sun god and greatest deity.

The Popular District, or Residential District, is the place where the lower-class people lived. It includes storage buildings and simple houses.

The royalty area, a sector for the nobility, is a group of houses located in rows over a slope; the residence of the Amautas (wise persons) was characterized by its reddish walls, and the zone of the Ñustas (princesses) had trapezoid-shaped rooms. The Monumental Mausoleum is a carved statue with a vaulted interior and carved drawings. It was used for rites or sacriﬁces.

As part of their road system, the Incas built a road to the Machu Picchu region. Today, tens of thousands of tourists walk the Inca Trail to visit Machu Picchu each year. They acclimate at Cusco before starting on the two to four day journey on foot from the Urubamba valley, walking up through the Andes mountain range to the isolated city.

The people of Machu Picchu were connected to long-distance trade, as shown by nonlocal artifacts found at the site. As an example, Bingham found unmodiﬁed obsidian nodules at the entrance gateway. In the 1970’s, Burger and Asaro determined that these obsidian samples were from the Titicaca or Chivay obsidian source, and that the samples from Machu Picchu showed long-distance transport of this obsidian type in pre-Hispanic Peru.

Aguas Calientes (Spanish for “hot water" or "hot springs"), sometimes referred to as Machupicchu Town, is a town in Peru on the Urubamba (Vilcanota) River. It is the closest access point to the historical site of Machu Picchu, which is 3.7 miles away or about a 1.5 hour walk. There are many hotels and restaurants for tourists, as well as natural hot baths, which give the town its name. The baths were destroyed by ﬂoods several years ago, but have since been rebuilt.

Originally settled by a few farm families in 1901, the tiny settlement was transformed into a busy railway worker's camp, called Camp Maquinachayoq, during the construction of the railroad here in the late 1920’s. The town was the central hub for worker lodging and their equipment up until the railway was ﬁnished in 1931.

Aguas Calientes serves as a terminal for the PeruRail passenger train service from Cusco. Trains serve locals and tourists arriving from Cusco and Ollantaytambo to visit Machu Picchu. A sheltered souvenir market is adjacent to the train station and is easily accessible to interested shoppers. The town’s main and only thoroughfare is Avenue Pachacutec which serves to connect the hot baths to the town's main square.

The Andes is the longest continental mountain range in the world. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about 4,300 miles long, about 120 miles to 430 miles wide with an average height of about 13,000 ft. The Andes extend from north to south through seven South American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

Along its length, the Andes splits into several ranges, which are separated by intermediate depressions and several high plateaus. The Altiplano plateau is the world's second-highest plateau following the Tibetan plateau

The Andes range is the world's highest mountain range outside of the continent of Asia. The highest peak, Mt. Aconcagua, rises to an elevation of about 22,841 ft above sea level. This is because of the equatorial bulge that results from the Earth's rotation. The world's highest volcanoes are in the Andes with over 50 that rise above 19,685 ft, including Ojos del Salado on the Chile-Argentina frontier which climbs to 22,615 ft.

Urubamba Valley

Urubamba Valley or the Sacred Valley of the Incas is a valley in the Andes of Peru, close to the Inca capital of Cusco and below the ancient sacred city of Machu Picchu. It is located in the modern Peruvian region of Cusco. In colonial documents, it is referred to as the "Valley of Yucay", and according to recent researches, it encompasses the heartland of the Inca Empire. The valley is generally understood to include everything between Calca and Lamay, Písac, and Ollantaytambo and was formed by the Urubamba River, also known as Vilcanota River or Wilcamayu. The latter, in Quechua (the still spoken language of the Inca Empire), means the Sacred River. It is fed by numerous rivers which descend through adjoining valleys and gorges, and contains numerous archaeological remains and villages. The valley was appreciated by the Incas due to its special geographical and climatic qualities. It was one of the empire's main points for the extraction of natural wealth, and one of the most important areas for maize production in Peru, north of Pisac. The early Incas may have come from Wimpillay as their mummies had been discovered there. Large scale maize production started here around 1400 AD. Inca urban agriculture was based on varieties bred in Moray, either in a governmental crop area or a seedling nursery of the Incas.

Sites of Interest

Ollantaytambo is a town and an Inca archaeological site in southern Peru about 37 miles northwest of the city of Cusco. It is located at an altitude of 9,160 feet above sea level in the district of Ollantaytambo, province of Urubamba, Cusco region. The town is located along the Patakancha River, close to the point where it joins the Urubamba River. The main settlement is located on the left side of the Patakancha with a smaller compound called 'Araqhama on the right side. The main Inca ceremonial center is located beyond 'Araqhama on a hill called Cerro Bandolista.

During the Inca Empire, Ollantaytambo was the royal estate of Emperor Pachacuti who conquered the region in the late 15th century. The emperor rebuilt the town with sumptuous constructions and undertook extensive works of terracing and irrigation in the Urubamba Valley. The town provided lodging for the Inca nobility while the terraces were farmed by yanaconas, retainers or slaves of the emperor. After Pachacuti's death, the estate came under the administration of his panaqa or family clan.

At the time of the Spanish conquest of Peru, it served as a temporary capital for Manco Inca, leader of the native resistance against the conquistadors. He fortiﬁed the town and its approaches in the direction of the former Inca capital of Cuzco, which had fallen under Spanish domination. In 1540, the native population of Ollantaytambo was assigned to labor for Hernando Pizarro. Then in the 19th century, the Inca ruins at Ollantaytambo attracted the attention of several foreign explorers.

'Araqhama is a western prolongation of the main settlement, across the Patakancha River. It features a large plaza, called Manyaraki, surrounded by constructions made out of adobe and semi-cut stones. These buildings have a much larger area than their counterparts in the main settlement. They also have very tall walls and oversized doors. To the south there are other structures, but smaller and built out of ﬁeld stones. 'Araqhama has been continuously occupied since Inca times, as evidenced by the Roman Catholic church on the eastern side of the plaza. To the north of Manyaraki, there are several sanctuaries with carved stones, sculpted rock faces, and elaborate waterworks, which include the Templo de Agua and the Baño de la Ñusta.

Araqhama is bordered to the west by Cerro Bandolista, a steep hill on which the Incas built a ceremonial center. The part of the hill facing the town is occupied by the terraces of Pumatallis, framed on both ﬂanks by rock outcrops. Due to the impressive character of these terraces, the Temple Hill is commonly known as the Fortress, however, this is a misnomer as the main functions of this site were religious. The main access to the ceremonial center is a series of stairways that climb to the top of the terrace complex. At this point, the site is divided into three main areas: the Middle sector directly in front of the terraces; the Temple sector to the south; and the Funerary sector to the north.

The Temple sector is built out of cut and fitted stones in contrast to the other two sectors of the Temple Hill which are made out of field stones. It is accessed via a stairway that ends on a terrace with a half finished gate and the Enclosure of the Ten Niches, a one room building. Behind them there is an open space which hosts the Platform of the Carved Seat and two unfinished monumental walls. The main structure of the whole sector is the Sun Temple, an uncompleted building which features the Wall of the Six Monoliths. The Middle and Funerary sectors have several rectangular buildings, some of them with two floors; there are also several fountains in the Middle sector.

The unﬁnished structures at the Temple Hill and the numerous stone blocks that litter the site indicate that it was still undergoing construction at the time of its abandonment. Some of the blocks show evidences of having been removed from ﬁnished walls, which provides evidence that a major remodeling effort was also underway. It is unknown which event halted construction at Temple Hill. Likely candidates include the war of succession between Huáscar and Atahualpa, the Spanish Conquest of Peru or the retreat of Manco Inca from Ollantaytambo to Vilcabamba.

The terraces permitted farming on otherwise unusable terrain. They also allowed the Incas to take advantage of the different ecological zones created by variations in altitude. Terraces at Ollantaytambo were built to a higher standard than common Inca

agricultural terraces. For instance, they have higher walls made of cut stones instead of rough ﬁeld stones. This type of high-prestige terracing is also found in other Inca royal estates such as Chinchero, Pisaq, and Yucay.

A set of sunken terraces start south of Ollantaytambo's Plaza de Armas, stretching all the way to the Urubamba River. They are about 2,296 ft long, 197 ft wide and up to 49 ft below the level of surrounding terraces. Due to their shape, they are called Callejón, the Spanish word for alley. Land inside Callejón is protected from the wind by lateral walls which also absorb solar radiation during the day and release it during the night. This creates a microclimate zone which is 3 to 6° F warmer than the ground above it. These conditions allowed the Incas to grow species of plants native to lower altitudes that otherwise could not have ﬂourished at this site.

At the southern end of Callejón overlooking the Urubamba River, there is an Inca site called Q'ellu Raqay. Its interconnected buildings and plazas form an unusual design quite unlike the single-room structures common in Inca architecture. Since the site is isolated from the rest of Ollantaytambo and surrounded by an elaborate terraces, it has been postulated that it was a palace built for Emperor Pachacuti.

The Incas built several storehouses out of ﬁeld stones on the hills surrounding Ollantaytambo. The location at this high altitude with low temperatures and a great deal of air ﬂow kept the storehouse contents from decaying. To enhance this effect, the Ollantaytambo qollqas also feature ventilation systems. It is believed that they were used to store the production of the agricultural terraces built around the site. Grain would be poured in the windows on the uphill side of each building, then emptied out through the downhill side window.

The main quarries of Ollantaytambo were located at Kachiqhata, in a ravine across the Urubamba River about 3 miles from the town. The site features three main quarrying areas: Mullup'urku, Kantirayoq, and Sirkusirkuyoq; all of which provided blocks of rose rhyolite for the elaborate buildings of Temple Hill. A complicated network of roads, ramps, and slides connected these quarries with the main building areas. In the quarries there are several chullpas (small stone towers) used as burial sites.

Písac is a Peruvian village in the Sacred Valley on the Urubamba River. The village is well-known for its market every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Although the people here wear the same homemade shoes, the different hats represent the tribe or group the people’ come from. The language of the area is Quechua pronounced ket-chew-uh.

One of its more notable features of the town is a large pisonay tree which dominates the central plaza. Another is the sanctuary of Huanca, a sacred shrine near the village to which pilgrims travel every September.

The area is perhaps best known for its Incan ruins, known as Inca Písac, which lie atop a hill at the entrance to the valley. The ruins are separated along the ridge into four groups: Pisaqa, Intihuatana, Q'allaqasa, and Kinchiracay. Intihuatana includes the Temple of the Sun, baths, altars, water fountains, a ceremonial platform, and an intihuatana, a volcanic outcrop carved into a "hitching post for the Sun" (or Inti). The angles of its base suggest that it served to deﬁne the changes of the seasons. Q'allaqasa, which is built onto a natural spur and overlooks the valley, is known as the citadel.

The Inca constructed agricultural terraces on the steep hillside, which are still in use today. They created the terraces by hauling richer topsoil by hand from the lower lands. The terraces enabled the production of surplus food, more than would normally be possible at altitudes as high as 11,000 feet. The narrow rows of terraces beneath the citadel are thought to represent the wing of a partridge (pisaca), from which the village and ruins get their name. The birds are quite common in the area at dusk.

With military, religious, and agricultural structures, the site served at least a triple purpose. Researchers believe that Písac defended the southern entrance to the Sacred Valley, while Choquequirao defended the western entrance, and the fortress at Ollantaytambo, the northern. Inca Pisac also controlled a route which connected the Inca Empire with the border of the rain forest.

It is unknown when Inca Písac was built. Since it does not appear to have been inhabited by any preInca civilization, it was most likely built no earlier than 1440. The Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro and the conquistadores destroyed Inca Písac in the early 1530’s. The modern town of Písac was built in the valley by Viceroy Toledo during the 1570’s.

Lake Titicaca Area

Lake Titicaca is a lake located in the Andes on the border of Peru and Bolivia. At 12,500 ft above sea level, the lake is on record as the highest commercially navigable lake in the world. By volume of water, it is also the largest lake in South America

Lake Titicaca has an Alpine climate with cool to cold temperatures for most of the year. The average annual precipitation is 24 inches. Winters are dry with very cold nights and mornings, but with warm afternoons.The cold sources and winds over the lake give it an average surface temperature of 50 to 57° F. In the winter (June–September), mixing occurs with the deeper waters which are always between 50 to 52° F.

The origin of the name Titicaca is unknown. It has been translated as "Rock Puma," as local communities have traditionally interpreted the shape of the lake to be that of a puma hunting a rabbit. "Titicaca" combines words from the local languages Quechua and Aymara. The word is also translated as "Crag of Lead." Locally, the lake

goes by several names. Because the southeast quarter of the lake is separate from the main body, the Peruvians refer to these smaller and larger parts as Lago Pequeño and Lago Grande, respectively.

Titicaca is notable for a population of people who live on the Uros, a group of 44 or so artiﬁcial islands made of totora (ﬂoating reeds), which is a cattail type rush growing native in the lake. Its dense roots support the top layer, which rots and must be replaced regularly by stacking more reeds on top of the layer beneath. The islands change in size, and more are created as the need arises. Their original purpose was defensive, and they could be moved if a threat arose. Many of the islands contain watchtowers largely constructed of reeds. The largest island is currently Tribuna. The surface of these islands is uneven, thin, and some liken it to walking on a waterbed. The unwary might not notice a thin spot and sink a leg or more into the frigid waters of the lake.

cold, the wind, and the sun which at this altitude can burn fiercely. Many women still wear the distinctive derby type hat and full skirts. The people continue living by fishing, weaving and now, tourism. They catch fish for themselves and also sell them on the mainland. They often catch shore birds and ducks for eggs and food. Occasionally, if the level of the lake decreases, they may plant potatoes in soil created by the decaying reeds, but as a norm, they are not agricultural. The reed boats they create quite often have an animal face or shape on the prow and are a favorite photographic subject.

The Uros residents of these islands also create their homes from the totora reeds. The roofs are waterproof but not humidity resistant. Cooking ﬁres are built on a layer of stones to protect the reeds beneath. Residents wear layers of clothing, mostly woolen, to protect themselves from the

Juliaca

Juliaca, San Roman's capital city, is situated in southeastern Peru at 12,549 ft above sea level. It is the area's largest city with a population of 225,146 inhabitants (2007). Juliaca is located on the Collao Plateau in the Andes about 28 miles northwest of Lake Titicaca. It has an Alpine climate with cool to cold temperatures for most of the year. The average annual precipitation is 24 inches and winters are dry with very cold nights and mornings and then warm afternoons.

Each year, the city hosts Juliaca's Carnival between February and March. During this event, participants dress in colorful costumes and gather on the streets to dance typical dances of the Collao Plateau. It is a very popular festival in the region. Another annual event is Saint Sebastian's fest, which occurs on January 20th.

Juliaca has a varied transportation system with citizens relying on cars, trains, and bicycle. It is a major transit point in this area and has strong ties with Peru's southern cities including Arequipa, Puno, Tacna, Cuzco, Ilo, and the Bolivian Republic.

Like Chicago, it is nicknamed the "Windy City" because of the city's breezy climate due to its location on the Plateau. It is also called "Sock City" or "Knitting City" because Juliaca was a major center of sock, sweater, and handicraft production. But now, clothes, wool and fabrics are manufactured in mills rather than in cottage industries.

Trade is Juliaca’s principal economic activity, comprising 26.5% of the labor force. In 2008, it had 15,439 commercial establishments which amounts to 41% of the trade done in the Puno region. The city has recently become a center for capital investment and as a result, poverty has been reduced and increased per capita income has come to some of its residents.

Puno

Puno is the capital city of the Puno Region in southeastern Peru with a population of approximately 100,000 people. It is situated between the shores of Lake Titicaca and the mountains surrounding the city. Because there is less than 2 miles of ﬂat land between the shores and the foothills, the growing city has had to expand upwards onto the hills. As a result, the town's less developed and poorest areas which are high on the hillsides, often have very steep streets which are generally not paved and cannot be accessed by automobile.

As Puno is located at such a high elevation, it experiences more extreme weather conditions than would be expected for its sub-tropical latitude. The average annual temperature is about 59° F, and the weather never gets overly warm. During the winter months from June to August, night-time temperatures usually drop well below freezing. At this high altitude, the rays of the sun are very strong. Most of the annual precipitation occurs during the summer, with the winter months being very dry.

The city was established in 1668 by viceroy Pedro Antonio Fernández de Castro as the capital of the province of Paucarcolla with the name San Juan Bautista de Puno. The name was later changed to San Carlos de Puno, in honor of King Charles II of Spain. Puno has several churches dating back to the colonial period that were built to service the Spanish population and evangelize the natives.

Puno is an important agricultural and livestock region, particularly of South American camelids (llamas and alpacas) which graze on its immense plateaus and plains. Textiles and other products created from alpaca, llama, or sheep wool are characteristic of the area. But much of the city economy still relies on the black market, fueled by cheap goods smuggled in from Bolivia.

Puno is the ﬁrst major hub in the constant migration of indigenous peoples of the Andes to the larger cities of Peru. It is the largest city in the Southern Altiplano and is the recipient of new residents from surrounding smaller agricultural communities of poorer classes of people seeking better opportunities for education and employment. As such, Puno is served by several small Institutes of Technology, education, technical or junior collegetype facilities. Additionally, it is home to what is commonly referred to as the "UNA" or the Universidad Nacional del Altiplano, which was founded in 1856.

In Puno, the Kuntur Wasi viewpoint which has a huge metal sculpture of a condor is the dramatic expression of the community’s pride in its Andean heritage. There are about 700 steps to climb to reach the sculpture which has a wing span of 36 feet. It is worth the exercise as the view across the city and of Lake Titicaca beyond is breathtaking.

Puno is known as the “Folkloric capital of Peru” due to its wealth of artistic and cultural expressions, particularly dance. It is best portrayed during the celebrations of the Feast of the "Virgen de la Candelaria" and the Regional Competition of Autochthonous Dances.

Sillustani

Sillustani is a pre-Incan burial ground on the shores of Lake Umayo near Puno in Peru. The tombs, which are built above ground in tower-like structures called chullpas, are the vestiges of the Colla people, Aymara who were conquered by the Inca in the 15th century. These structures housed the remains of complete family groups, although they were probably limited to nobility. Many of the tombs were dynamited by grave robbers, while others were left unﬁnished.

Ancestor worship and kinship were integral parts of Aymara culture, and the huge chullpas or "chupa" at Sillustani were built to house the Aymara elite of the immediate pre-Inca and Inca period. The word was used in the 19th century and comes from the Dictionary of Ludovico Bertonio (1612). Bertonio referred to the basket burials of the semi-nomadic pastoralists as "chulpas" and actually referred to stone towers as "uta Amaya" "houses of the soul". However, the term "chullpa" remains used today for the towers. Many of the chullpas at Sillustani show pre-Inca characteristics that were later redressed with Inca stone blocks. Similar chullpas are found throughout the entire south Central Andes with the above ground burial styles going back at least to mature Tiwanaku (ca 500-950 AD). Corpses were not intentionally mummiﬁed, but in the dry environment created by the closed tomb, they survived for centuries. Most mummy bundles indicate burial in a fetal position. Some of the tombs also have various animal shapes carved into the stone. The only openings to the buildings face east, where it was believed the Sun was reborn by Mother Earth each day.

The architecture of the site is often considered more complex than typical Incan architecture. In contrast with the Inca, who used stones of varying shapes, the Colla used even rectangular edges. While chullpas are not unique to Sillustani and are found across the Altiplano, this site is considered the best and most preserved example of them.

Lima Metropolitan Area

Lima is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on the desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima Metropolitan Area. With a population approaching 9 million, Lima is the fifth largest city in Latin America, behind Mexico City, São Paulo, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. It is home to one of the largest financial hubs in Latin America and has been defined as a beta world city by GaWC international ranking.

Lima was founded by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro on January 18, 1535, as la Ciudad de los Reyes, or "the City of Kings". It became the capital and most important city in the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru. Following the Peruvian War of Independence (1809-1821), it became the capital of the Republic of Peru. Today, around one-third of the Peruvian population lives in the metropolitan area.

In 1940, an earthquake destroyed most of the city, which at that time was mostly built of adobe and quincha which is wood, cane or reeds covered in mud. Shortly thereafter, Lima started a period of rapid growth spurred by migration from the Andean regions of Peru, as rural people sought for opportunities of work and education. The population, estimated at 0.6 million in 1940, reached 1.9 million by 1960 and 4.8 million by 1980. The new migrants, at ﬁrst conﬁned to slums in downtown Lima, led an expansion through large-scale land invasions which evolved into shanty towns.

Lima's climate is mild and comfortable, despite being located in the tropics and in a desert. Although classiﬁed as subtropical, Lima's proximity to the cool waters of the Paciﬁc Ocean leads to temperatures much cooler than those expected for a subtropical

desert, and can be classiﬁed as a cool desert climate. It is neither cold nor very hot. Temperatures rarely fall below 54° F or rise above 84° F throughout the entire year. Two distinct seasons can be identiﬁed: summer, from December through April and winter from June through October. Summers are warm, humid and sunny with daily temperatures oscillating between 64 and 84° F. Skies are generally cloud free, especially during daytime. Occasional coastal fogs during some mornings and high clouds during some afternoons and evenings can be present. Lima summer sunsets are well known for being colorful. As such, they have been labeled by the locals as "cielo de brujas" (Spanish for "sky of witches"), since the sky commonly turns into shades of orange, pink and red around 7 pm. Winter weather is dramatically different. Gray skies, breezy conditions, high humidity and cool temperatures prevail. Long (1-week or more) stretches of dark overcast skies are not uncommon. Persistent morning drizzle occurs occasionally from June through September, coating the streets with a thin layer of water that generally dries up by early afternoon. Winter temperatures in Lima do not vary much between day and night and range from 54 to 66° F.

Although relative humidity levels are high, rainfall is very low due to strong atmospheric stability. The severely low rainfall impacts the water supply in the city which has to originate from wells and rivers that ﬂow from the Andes. Inland districts receive anywhere between 1 to 2.4 inches of rainfall per year, mainly during the winter months. Coastal districts receive only 1 to 1.2 inches. As previously mentioned, winter precipitation occurs in the form of persistent drizzle in the mornings. These are locally called 'garúa', 'llovizna' or 'camanchacas'. Summer rain, on the other hand, is infrequent and occurs in the form of isolated light and brief showers. These generally occur during afternoons and evenings when leftovers from Andean storms arrive from the east.

Sites of Interest

The Plaza Mayor or Plaza de Armas of Lima is the birthplace of the city of Lima, as well as the core of the city. Located in the Historic Center of Lima, it is surrounded by the

Government Palace  , Cathedral of Lima, Archbishop's Palace of Lima, the Municipal Palace, and the Palace of the Union.

In 1523, King Charles I of Spain mandated the Procedures for the creation of cities in the New World. These procedures indicated that after outlining a city's plan, growth should follow a grid centered on the square shape of the plaza.

On the day of the foundation of the city, January 18, 1535, the conquistador Francisco Pizarro conforming to established procedure designated a location to build the plaza. Later, Pizarro and Nicolas de Rivera, the city's ﬁrst mayor, toured the city's location and split parcels. Pizarro, taking advantage of his title of founder and governor, took a large parcel of land between the north side of the plaza and the Rimac river. The lot to the south of the plaza was designated to be a church, the western lot was to be the site of a city council, and the rest of the lots were divided among the rest of the conquistadors.

The 17th century historian Bernabé Cobo said of the plaza: ..."it is the ﬁnest and most well-formed [plaza] that I have ever seen, even in Spain. It occupies an entire block, with the width of four streets on one side and four streets on the other, and with all four sides it measures more than two thousand feet; it is very ﬂat..."

Subsequently, the viceroy Diego López de Zúñiga y Velasco, count of Nieva, proposed the gallows, which had previously been located at the center of the plaza, be moved nearer to the river to the location which is now the Desamparados train station. In place of it, a new water fountain was built at the center of the plaza. The gallows were returned to the south side of the plaza on the Callejon de Petateros.

The ﬁrst water fountain built on the plaza was constructed by the viceroy Francisco de Toledo, and was inaugurated on October 21, 1578. It consisted of a baluster and an elevated bowl, and in it had eight pipes through which water fell into the bowl on the next level. A ball at the top of the fountain dispersed water back onto the lower levels. The seal of the city was inscribed on this ball.

The water fountain was replaced by the viceroy García Sarmiento de Sotomayor, count of Salvatierra, who inaugurated it on September 8, 1651. This fountain remains as the centerpiece of the plaza to this day.

During the colonial era, the plaza served as a market, bull ﬁghting ring, and the city gallows. The plaza also became home to the Auto de fe in which the inquisition occurred. The tribunal of the inquisition had one of its three courts located in Lima

The ﬁrst conviction occurred on November 15, 1573. This was the ﬁrst heretic to be tried and executed in the new world.

In 1622, the Cathedral of Lima  was completed. This church still stands today on the plaza. In 1821, José de San Martín proclaimed the Independence of Peru on this plaza. After this historic event, the flag of the new republic was paraded around the plaza. In 1855, President Ramón Castilla inaugurated the first public gas lighting system which were first installed on the light posts of the plaza. Also at this time, gardens were planted on the plaza replacing the pavement. In 1860, the first railways for trams were installed on the plaza. In 1922, construction of the Archbishop's Palace of Lima was completed. In 1938, the Government Palace was completed and in 1944 the Municipal Palace was completed.

The Plaza San Martín is one of the most representative public spaces of the city of Lima, Peru. It is located at the ninth block of Colmena avenue, within the Historic Center of Lima. It is located near the Plaza Mayor of Lima and is connected to it by the Jiron de la Union. Its central monument gives homage to Peru's liberator, José de San Martín. The location of the plaza previously was home to the San Juan de Dios hospital which was torn down in 1850 and replaced by a railway station, which in turn was torn down between 1911 and 1918.

The Plaza San Martín was inaugurated on July 27, 1921 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the independence of Peru. The design, ornamentation, furnishing, and gardening of the plaza was designed by Manuel Piqueras Cotolí. The benches and handrails were constructed out of marble and the paving, of granite. There were also four water fountains, bronze street lamps, and ﬂower-ﬁlled gardens. The design for the monument to José de San Martín was chosen in an contest in which the design created by the Spanish sculptor Mariano Benlliure emerged victorious and illustrated San Martin during his voyage across the Andes.

The construction of the buildings that surrounded the plaza occurred at a gradual pace. The Colón Theater and the Giacoletti buildings were the first structures to be built and were erected in 1914 before the construction of the plaza. The other buildings were later built in three stages. The Hotel Bolivar was built in 1924, the Zela and Pumacahua arcades were built during the second stage in 1926 and the Club Nacional was built in 1929. In the third and final stage of the project from 1935-1945 the remaining flanks of the plaza were built up with the construction of the Cine Metro, Fénix, Boza, and Sudamérica buildings which were built in the Neocolonial style (similar to the Spanish Colonial Revival architecture).

As a result, the plaza maintains uniformity with respect to its buildings' facades. Its overall appearance is primarily baroque; the buildings, plaza, and central monument all cohere to uniform and speciﬁc styles. The architectural style to which most of the surrounding buildings belong to is that of the neohispanic or neocolonial styles within the realm of European derived architecture.

Amazon Basin & Rainforest Extension

The Amazon Basin is the part of South America that is drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. It encompasses an area of about 2,670,000 sq miles, or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela. The Amazon rainforest is the largest in the world, covering about 3,179,720 sq miles with dense tropical forest. Although the majority of the rainforest lies within Brazil, 13% of it is in Peru. The Basin has a low-water season and a wet season during which the rivers ﬂood adjacent low lying forests. The climate of the basin is hot and humid and it rains almost everyday. At night, the temperature drops but the humidity remains the same.

As much of the Amazon is unexplored, many of its indigenous plants and animals are unknown. Plant growth is dense and the variety of animals living within is comparatively large because of the heavy rainfall and the dense forests covered with huge evergreen and coniferous forests. The forests are in fact so thick that the dense "roof" created by the leaves and branches does not allow the sunlight to reach the ground. The ground remains dark and damp. Only shade tolerant trees and vegetation grow here. Orchids and bromeliads use trees and other plants to get closer to the sunlight. They grow hanging onto the branches or tree trunks with aerial roots, not as parasites but as epiphytes. One tropical fruit tree that is native to the Amazon is the abiu. There are thousands of plants, all in different colors, sizes, and shapes. There are also many other living organisms that have their homes in these plants.

More than 300 species of mammal are found in the Amazon, the majority of which are bats and rodents. It is home to the world's largest rodent, the capybara  which

can weigh 200 lbs. Many birds found in the Amazon are northern or southern migrants, wintering in or passing though the rainforest at certain times of the year. Macaws are famous for gathering by the hundreds, even thousands, along the clay cliffs of the Amazon river where they feed on minerals which help the birds process toxins found in the seeds they eat.

Over 1,000 species of frogs are found in the Amazon Basin. Unlike temperate frogs which are mostly limited to habitats near water, tropical frogs are most abundant in the trees and relatively few are found near bodies of water on the forest ﬂoor. The reason for this occurrence is quite simple: frogs must always keep their skin moist since almost half of their respiration in carried out through their skin. The high humidity of the rainforest and frequent rainstorms give tropical frogs inﬁnitely more freedom to move into the trees and escape the many predators that live in the water. Among the best known rainforest amphibians are the tiny, but brilliantly colored poison dart (arrow) frogs. These striking but slow-moving frogs secrete powerful toxins from glands on their backs and use their color to advertise their toxic composition to potential predators.

Over 90% of the animal species in the Amazon are insects. All of Europe has about 321 butterﬂy species, while two of Peru’s National Parks, the Manu has 1,300 species and the Tambopata has at least 1,231 species. Around 25% of the world's 2 million described animals species are beetles. The Longhorn Beetle can have a body length (not including antennae) of over 6.5 inches. A single square mile of rainforest often houses more than 50,000 insect species and some scientists estimate that 30% of the animal biomass of the Amazon Basin is made up of ants.

Amazonia is very sparsely populated. There are scattered settlements inland, but most of the population lives in a few larger cities on the banks of the Amazon and other major rivers, such as in Iquitos, Peru. In many regions, the forest has been cleared for soy bean plantations and ranching (the most extensive nonforest use of the land) and some of the inhabitants harvest wild rubber latex and Brazil nuts. This is a form of extractive farming where the trees are not cut down, and thus is a relatively sustainable.

Amazon River Dolphins

Inia geoffrensis, commonly known as the Amazon river dolphin, is a freshwater river dolphin endemic to the Orinoco, Amazon and Araguaia/ Tocantins River systems of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. It is listed as Endangered by the IUCN due to pollution, overﬁshing, excessive boat trafﬁc and habitat loss. Other common names of the species include boto, lo lo annaaaa, boto cor-de-rosa, bouto, and pink dolphin.

Although not a large cetacean in general terms, this dolphin is the largest cetacean to spend most of its life in freshwater; it can grow larger than a human. Body length can range from 5.0 to 7.9 ft, depending on subspecies. Females are typically larger than males. The largest female Amazon river dolphins can range up to 8.2 ft in length and weigh 217 lbs. The largest male dolphins can range up to 6.6 ft in length and weigh 210 lbs.

Pink dolphins have unfused neck vertebrae, enabling them to turn their heads 180 degrees. They have adapted to their river bound habitat by changing color and now they possess long beaks which contain 24 to 34 conical and molar-type teeth on each side of the jaws. Even their color has adapted to the river bound habitat.

The species separated from its oceanic relatives during the Miocene epoch. Sea levels were higher at that time, says biologist Healy Hamilton of the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, and large parts of South America, including the Amazon Basin, may have been ﬂooded by shallow, more or less brackish water. When this inland sea retreated, Hamilton hypothesizes, the Amazon dolphins remained in the river basin, evolving into striking creatures that bear little resemblance to common dolphins.

In traditional Amazon River folklore, at night, an Amazon river dolphin becomes a handsome young man who seduces girls, impregnates them, and then returns to the river in the morning to become a dolphin again. This dolphin shapeshifter is called an encantado. It has been suggested that the myth arose partly because dolphin genitalia bear a resemblance to those of humans. Others believe the myth served (and still serves) as a way of hiding the incestuous relations which are quite common in some small, isolated communities along the river. In the area, there are tales that it is bad luck to kill a dolphin. Legend also states that if a person makes eye contact with an Amazon river dolphin, he or she will have lifelong nightmares. Local legends also state that the dolphin is the guardian of the Amazonian manatee, and that, should one wish to ﬁnd a manatee, one must ﬁrst make peace with the dolphin.

Ceiba Tops Lodge

Ceiba Tops Lodge, which opened in 2000, is located on the banks of the Amazon River just 25 miles from Iquitos, Peru. It is the perfect base from which to explore the Amazon River and its luxurious rainforest. One hike worth taking is to the spectacular Canopy Walkway, which spans over one-third of a mile and is connected by tree platforms which reach a height of over 115 feet. The walkway provides a view of the rainforest from the treetops, the best vantage point for observing Amazon wildlife and vegetation. It is accessible to all and requires no special skills or equipment. The suspended walkway is spread between 14 of the area's largest rainforest trees and is one of the longest canopy walkways in the world. Because of this canopy access, research has extended into this area where little had been known before and where so much is still yet to be discovered.

Iquitos

Iquitos is the largest city in the Peruvian rainforest, with a population of 406,340. It is the capital of Loreto Region and Maynas Province. Located on the Amazon River, it is only 348 ft above sea level, although it is more than 1,864 miles from the mouth of the Amazon which is in Belém, Brazil on the Atlantic Ocean. It is situated 78 miles downstream of the conﬂuence of the Ucayali and Marañón rivers, the two main headwaters of the Amazon River. Iquitos has long been a major port in the Amazon Basin. It is surrounded by three rivers: the Nanay, the Itaya, and the Amazon.

The city can be reached only by airplane or boat, with the exception of a road to Nauta, a small town roughly 62 miles south. It is the largest city in the world which cannot be reached by road. Ocean vessels of 3,000 to 9,000 tons and 18 ft draft can reach Iquitos from the Atlantic ocean.

Most travel within the city is via bus, motorcycle, or the ubiquitous auto rickshaw (mototaxi, motocarro or motokar), which is essentially a modiﬁed motorcycle with a cabin behind supported by two wheels, seating three. Transportation to nearby towns often requires a river trip via peque-peque, a small public motorized boat.

The climate is hot and humid, with an average relative humidity of 85%. The wet season lasts from around November to May, with the river reaching its highest point in May. The river is at its lowest in October.

European-Peruvians established Iquitos as a Jesuit mission to the indigenous peoples in the 1750’s. In 1864, it started to grow when the settlers created the Loreto Region and made Iquitos its capital. It is the seat of a Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicariate.

Iquitos was known for its rubber industry. Through the rubber boom of the ﬁrst decade of the 20th century. it attracted thousands of immigrants from around the world, mostly young, single men who hoped to make their fortunes in rubber. The rise of the automobile and related industries had dramatically increased the worldwide demand for rubber. Some men became merchants and bankers, and made their fortunes that way. Many of the European men married indigenous women and stayed in Peru the rest of their lives, founding ethnically mixed families. The immigrants brought European clothing styles, music and other cultural elements to Iquitos.

Among the unique communities formed by the 19th-century rubber boom immigration was the Sephardic Jews from Morocco. Many of the men married Peruvian women and created families in Iquitos. They established a synagogue and the Jewish Cemetery. The wealthiest Europeans built great mansions in the late 19th century, some of which survive. Casa de Fierro (Spanish for the Iron House) was designed by Gustave Eiffel, designer of the Eiffel Tower. After rubber seeds were smuggled out of the country and began to be cultivated in quantity elsewhere, the Peruvian boom came to an end. But the city is still an important trading port in the Amazon basin.

The Juane,  is one of the main dishes of cuisine of the Peruvian jungle. It is widely consumed during the Catholic Feast of San Juan (St. John, the Baptist), held on June 24th each year. The dish was named in honor of San Juan Bautista and could have a pre-Columbian origin. With the arrival of the Spanish, missionaries popularized the Biblical story of Salome, John and Herodias. Some believe the dish's name comes from the reference to the head of San Juan served on a platter.

A popular dish is Tacacho  which is made from sliced plaintain, which is fried then mashed with chicharones (fried pork fat). It is usually accompanied with chorizo (fried sausage) making it a savory combination. The dish is typical of Iquitos as well as the Peruvian Amazon and is widespread in the rest of the country. The term tacacho derives from the Quechua term, taka chu, which means beaten. Tacacho consumption varies depending on the region where it is made. In Madre de Dios and San Martín, many people eat tacachos for breakfast and it is also included in the Christmas dinner.

The Yagua People

The Yagua are an indigenous people who live in about 30 communities scattered throughout a section of the Peruvian and Colombian Amazon basin which can roughly be described as a rectangle 200 miles wide and 350 miles long or 70,000 sq. miles. Two thousand of the Yagua people in Peru were listed as monolingual in 2000, and of these, 75% were women and 25% were men. The majority of the rest of the 6,000 people are bilingual in Spanish to varying degrees.

There are two possible etymologies for the term Yagua, both of which originate outside of the Yagua language. First, the Quechua term yawar (blood or the color of blood) is a likely possibility due to the Yagua custom of painting their faces with achiote (the blood red seeds of the annatto plant, Bixa orellana). During the pre-conquest period, the Yaguas were in close contact with the Incas. To this day there are far more Quechua (Inca) words in Yagua than there are Spanish words. The term in Quechua would have been something like yawar runa (the blood-red people) which could easily have been assimilated into Spanish as yagua

Second, the term yagua in Spanish means royal palm. This term could have been applied to the Yaguas by the Spanish explorers because much of the native clothing is made of palm ﬁber. Unfortunately, there is no data on whether a name resembling yagua was ﬁrst used by the Quechuas of the area or the Spanish, therefore there is no principled way to distinguish between these two possible etymologies.

The only native term that might be thought of as a self-referent is nijyąąmíy which means the people. This word is often used in contrast with mááy (white people) and munuñúmiy (savages, enemies or non-Yaguas).

However, nijyąąmíy is also the generic term for all human beings.

The third earliest documented European contact with the Yagua was probably made by the Spanish explorer Francisco de Orellana in January 1542. While exploring in the area of modern day Pebas, Orellana encountered a village called Aparia, and captured two chiefs named Aparia and Dirimara, as

well as some others. These names could conceivably have come from the Yagua words (j)ápiiryá (red macaw clan) and rimyurá (shaman). The former could very well be a village name as well as a name applied to an individual. Today, clan names are still used by many Yaguas as family names. The word for shaman might also be used to refer to an individual, especially one singled out as a chief. Regular European contact began in 1686 with the establishment of a Jesuit mission at San Joaquin de los Omagua, on an island in the Amazon river probably near what is now the mouth of the Ampiyacu River. Though this mission was established to serve the Cambeba people, there was undoubtedly contact with the Yaguas as well. From the 17th century to the last half of the 19th century, contact with the Yaguas was mainly through the Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries. In the early 18th century, Portuguese raiding parties attacked the Spanish missions throughout the Amazon region causing much geographic dispersion of the tribes that were in contact with the Spanish, inﬂicting severe casualties.

The present extreme geographic dispersion of the Yagua, however, is due largely to the effects of the 'rubber boom' in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At that time, Europeans arrived in large numbers from Brazil and began to exploit the indigenous people to extract natural latex from the jungle. Many Yaguas died in conﬂicts with these Europeans, as well as by being exposed to European diseases. Others were exploited as slave labor. Still others ﬂed to remote regions of the jungle. Ever since the rubber boom, the Yagua sense of unity and common culture has declined.

The tremendous distances between villages make it very difﬁcult to have consistent interaction with Yaguas outside of one's home village. All economic activity outside of the village is with non-Yagua peoples, usually Spanish-speakers. Thus there is economic and social pressure to learn Spanish and assimilate into the general Peruvian culture. Villages are also characteristically quite small (2 to 30 families). This fact further limits the breadth of interaction with other Yaguas, and increases the tendency to want to reach out beyond one's village for social and economic advantages. However, the Yagua culture and language do continue to be viable, especially in some of the larger and more isolated communities. Some children grow up speaking only Yagua, and native arts and crafts are a signiﬁcant economic activity.

Chakana Inca Cross

The Chakana symbolizes for Inca mythology what is known in other mythologies as the World Tree, Tree of Life and so on. The stepped cross is made up of an equalarmed cross indicating the cardinal points of the compass and a superimposed square. The square represents the other two levels of existence. The three levels of existence are Hana Pacha (the upper world inhabited by the superior gods), Kay Pacha, (the world of our everyday existence) and Ucu or Urin Pacha (the underworld inhabited by spirits of the dead, the ancestors, their overlords and various deities having close contact to the Earth plane). The hole through the center of the cross is the Axis by means of which the shaman transits the cosmic vault to the other levels. It also represents Cuzco, the center of the Incan empire, and the Southern Cross constellation.

The shaman was superior to priests, sorcerers and witch-doctors in that he could modify his states of consciousness and journey at will to the lower level to enquire into the causes of people's illnesses or misfortunes. These were generally attributed to breaches of taboo. Such trances were induced by the ingestion of hallucinogenic substances, most probably ayahuasca, or chewing the leaves of the sacred coca plant which are both used widely by the Indian shamans of Peru.

The cross has 12 points and legend has it that these points represent the following sayings, afﬁrmations and life points

Worlds The Underworld The Current World The Upper World Animals The Snake The Puma The Condor Afﬁrmations I Live I Work I Love

Behavior

Don’t Lie

Don’t Steel

Don’t be Lazy

D r . J o h n L . L u n d

( 4) I ’ m N o t a Th i e f ( 5) I’m No t a Li a r He a v e n ’ sC o nd o r ( 7) ( 6) I ’ m N o t L az y Ea r t hP um a ( 8) Un de r w o r l dS e r pe nt ( 9) Kn o w l e d g eYA C H A Y ( 10) Lo v eMU NA Y ( 11) Wo r kLLA N K ’ A Y ( 12) Sun

C H A K A N A C R O SS T w e l v e P o i nt s o f t he Ink a V a l ue s E as tAir S out hFir e W ES TWa t e r N or t hEa r t h ( 1) Ay n iL a w o f R e pr o c i t yT o d a y f o r Y o u , T