Speaker
Description
Machu Piqchu has been variously described as a citadel, a lost city, a royal estate, and a sacred center. Machu Piqchu was likely recognized by the Inkas as a place of power because of its many granite outcrops and caves and the cardinality of mountains such as Veronica, Machu Piqchu, Wayna Piqchu, Pumasillo, and the snow peak of Salcantay. Machu Piqchu is a multi-faceted complex that exhibits carved rocks, light and shadow effects, solsticial orientations, an equinoctial orientation, a zenith alignment, an anti-zenith orientation, a Pleiades orientation, stairs, seats, niches, a water source, fountains, basins, caves, altars, platforms, double-jambed doorways, animal replica stones, horizon replica stones, structures, and terraces. Astronomy within and surrounding Machu Piqchu will be discussed at the sites of The Mortars, Intimachay, Temple of the Condor, The Torreon, Wayna Piqchu, The Gran Caverna, the Sacred Plaza, the River Iniwatana, the Llactapata Sun Temple, and the Dark Constellations of the Milky Way.
