The photo of the week shows an exceptional example of the simply, extraordinary mortarless masonry skills of the Incas. The twelve-sided Hatunrumiyoc stone is part of an Incan palace and later the Archbishop's Palace and is a short walk up a small street off the main square of world heritage-listed Cusco. As claimed, I couldn't get the blade of my pocket-knife into any gap around the perfect stonework. The stone is fairly easy to find as souvenir sellers tend to cluster opposite the stone.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Photo of the Week - Incan 12 Sided Stone (Cusco, Peru)
The photo of the week shows an exceptional example of the simply, extraordinary mortarless masonry skills of the Incas. The twelve-sided Hatunrumiyoc stone is part of an Incan palace and later the Archbishop's Palace and is a short walk up a small street off the main square of world heritage-listed Cusco. As claimed, I couldn't get the blade of my pocket-knife into any gap around the perfect stonework. The stone is fairly easy to find as souvenir sellers tend to cluster opposite the stone.
That's a great picture, and a great tribute to that area, just at the time when they really need visitors. The flood pictures from Machu Picchu are horrifying.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy close photos like this. After the terrible flooding in Peru, I hope this sturdy wall is still standing.
ReplyDeleteGreat look at something we probably don't notice much. The stonework at Machu Picchu is even more amazing once you consider they had to haul those stones up there!
ReplyDeleteamazing - I hate to think how long the poor inca stonemason laboured over that one - was it an example of his skill or did he misjudge it and have to make up for it by cutting all those corners?
ReplyDelete@vera: It sounds like it will take some time to recover and I suspect will cause some economic strife for numbers of families in the area dependent on tourism.
ReplyDelete@donna: I beleive that Cusco is Ok.
@sherry: The hauling, placing of the stones and carving is almost incomprehensible to me.
@heather: I guess we'll never know. Maybe the stone was a strange shape to start with.
looked at this picture 2 weeks ago before going to Machu Picchu. There is another rock with 32 facets to it in another section of wall that is incredibly more impressive
ReplyDelete@dan: Is that right - a 32-side stone. I wished I'd seen that when I was there.
ReplyDelete