The Sacred Plaza and behind, the Intiwatana Pyramid.
Niches, built into the walls of temples, as you can see here, are said be the home for
fragile or ceremonial objects. Our tour guide said that the large niches found in ceremonial temples
were often used to display mummies of an important ancestor, and were placed there in
preparation for participating in a great ceremony or for giving sage advice.
The hydraulic focal point of Machu Picchu is the series of 16 fountains spread over a vertical fall
of 85 feet. Common features of each fountain are an inlet channel creating a jet of falling water, a stone
basin at the bottom, a drain that could be plugged to fill the basin and side walls with niches.
Goodbye moments
Our journey ends here at the Sanctuary Lodge (on the left in the photo, two above) where we enjoy
a fabulous buffet lunch and the vibrant sounds of local highland music played by this Latino group, Allpa.
Prev Page