ANCIENT SACSAYHUAMAN: THE DEVIL’S FORTRESS CAN WITHSTAND AN EARTHQUAKE! HOW DID THEY BUILD IT?
South America is a land promised to mysteries and mysterious places. One of them is Sacsayhuamán, an ancient structure of mammoth proportions that the Spanish conquistadors believed to be the work of Satan.
If we wanted to build something similar, we would have to work hard, even with the use of modern technology. It is amazing how the Incas of centuries ago were able to transport and deposit stone blocks weighing hundreds of tonnes with millimetre precision. It’s such an incredible notion that many people believe that an alien force helped them build Sacsayhuaman.
The ingenious builders
The jewel is hidden in Peru at an altitude of almost three and a half thousand metres. It lies on the northern outskirts of Cuzco, the former centre of the Inca Empire. The Indians built the main part of the walls sometime in the 14th century, but the first terrace is believed to have stood there around 1100.
Sacsayhuamán most closely resembles a three-tiered wall, several hundred metres in length. Originally they were much longer and other buildings stood on top of them. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived at the site, they refused to believe that such a thing could have been created by humans and considered it the work of the devil himself.
“Two cylindrical towers and a number of other houses stand on the walls. The stone blocks fit together so perfectly that it is impossible to put a knife blade between them,” wrote Pedro Pizarro, brother of the famous conqueror of Francisco, in his notes.
Moreover, there is no bonding material between the blocks, the largest of which measures 5 x 5 x 4 metres. This is why they have withstood centuries and frequent earthquakes. When the ground shakes, they just jump.
The mind is at its wits’ end
The greatest destruction to Sacsayhuaman came from the conquistadors. As the work of Satan, they tried to raze it to the ground. They dismantled the upper buildings and used the material to build churches, among other things. But they couldn’t move most of the huge blocks.
To this day, there are disputes about how the Incas built the giant walls. The stones are believed to have been transported from a quarry 15 kilometres away, but their skill, ingenuity and effort are beyond reason. It is estimated that the 14th-century construction took at least 70 years and involved 30,000 workers. The question is why. Sacsayhuaman may resemble a fortress, but scientists say that was not its main purpose. Rather, it was a kind of “House of the Sun”, a place with religious significance. The archaeological research is not yet over, and researchers admit that there are probably many more surprising finds to come. They may even come across a UFO somewhere. Other theories suggest it was an alien base or launch pad.
Source: National Geographic
Author: Tomáš Mrzena | Published: 28.07.2020
