Maestro

10/ Sept/2012 “7 Wonders Of The World (Machu Picchu)” Gian Franco Gigena
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Machu Picchu is located in the Andes Mountains about 7,000 feet above sea level in the middle of atropical mountain forest, in an amazing setting. It is considered the highest and biggest and the second oldest Wonder of the world with The Great Pyramid of Giza being the first. The Incan civilizationleft the fastest without trace. The air in the ruins also has a rare scent due to the oldness of the ruins. Machu Picchu is one of the most important archeological ruins of the region near Cuzcoknown as the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The site is made up of single buildings arranged in groups, along streets, adjacent to plazas and terraces. Most of the buildings are residences, some of whitegranite masonry such as that seen in the city of Cuzco. Some of the buildings, which must have been built for special purposes, are partly carved into the bedrock and partly built from finely cut whitegranite. Machu Picchu also had major roads. Major Inca roads accessing Machu Picchu from the east, Cusco, Ollantaytambo and west, Llactapata-Vilcabamba meet at a large cleared and wide terraced areanorth of and outside the main. Three other trails drop down to the river from different sides. A long meeting hall kallanca, Machu Picchu’s largest building is here. The "Guard House" and an associatedshaped stone shrine huaca which seems to replicate Cerro Yanatin may represent a special ritual, ceremonial feature similar to the Sacred Rock Group identified by Reinhard and others (Reinhard 2002,Wright-Valencia 2001). The Guard house, designed with one side open, a waynona, is similar to the two buildings that border the Sacred Rock Plaza and probably served a similar ritual purpose. MachuPicchu also has a solstice that occurs every 25 years or so. The December solstice sunrise azimuth is 112 degrees with the sun setting at 245 degrees which is the hottest it can be on the mountain....