Temple of the Sun

The first view of Machu Picchu is overwhelming.  The Emperor Pachacutec, who developed most of the Inca empire during his reign from 1438 to 1471, is also responsible for Machu Picchu.

   

Once again, I see the hallmark Inca terraces that help control water flow and make the mountain negotiable and arable.

Still overwhelmed by the first view of Machu Picchu, I zoom in.

The high peak opposite us is not an untouched mountain reaching to the heavens but, once again, a sculpted slope.  

Sculpted Mountain

Looking at the area below us, there’s a building that has rounded walls not characteristic of Inca work (just right of center in the photo below) . That, Rosa tells us, is the Temple of the Sun.

   

Temple of the Sun or 'Torreon'

The Temple is built on a large rock above a chamber that is accessible only from within the building;  historians think that might have been Pachacutec’s burial place. The stone platform inside the Temple was probably a sacrificial altar.

   

The Temple of the Sun is one of the most significant buildings in Inca culture. Only nobility and priests were permitted entry.  Unrelated to our status and rank, we also don’t have access to the inside of the Temple but that is primarily to protect the site.  

   

A window in the eastern wall aligns with the rock platform so that, on the shortest day of the year, the first rays of sun shine over the mountains to illuminate the top of the stone altar.

  

Here, on the winter solstice (June 21 in the southern hemisphere), the Inca priests made offerings to the Sun God, Inti, and other gods.

Temple of the Sun

Remarkable Calculation

Knowing exactly when the winter solstice sunrise would illuminate the altar stone is more impressive than it sounds. Yes, the sun rises in the east. But the exact points of the rising (and setting) sun change a little every day. Being able to calculate the exact day that the sun’s first rays would illuminate the top of the altar may be easy today: in the fifteenth century, it was a remarkable feat.

  

A closer look at the walls show the same scrupulous stone carving in the rounded wall as in all other building associated with  Pachacutec: precisely carved, polished and tightly fitted together.

Closer view of the Temple window taken from inside Machu Picchu 

Time for us to enter Machu Picchu.