Language travel Peru
STRANGE PICTURES IN THE DESERT
Peru lies in the western portion of South America, and boarders on Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia and Ecuador. The country can be divided roughly into three regions: the Pacific Coast, the Andes and the valleys of Amazonia. Peru’s rich cultural history stretches back to long before the arrival of the “Conquistadores”, the Spanish conquerors. Cuzco, the Inca’s capital, or the lost city of Machu Picchu, are unique testimony to long forgotten times. Another impressive and puzzling natural phenomenon stands in the desert near Nazca and Palpa. On the desert floor, the so-called Nazca lines form huge pictures, ranging from 10 to several hundred metres in size. The pictures show simple shapes such as triangles or trapezoids, as well as pictures of people, apes, birds and whales. Even today, no one knows who left the mysterious Nazca lines in the desert floor, or why.
MACHU PICCHU
Machu Piccu is a well-preserved ruined Inca city, lying 2360 metres above the Urubamba Valley on the top of an Andes mountain peak. The city was built, according to one theory, by Pachacutec Yupanqui, an Inca ruler around 1450. He created the basis for expanding the powerful empire of the Inca’s and introduced the cult of the Sun God Inti. Hidden between heavily forested mountains, the city was invisible to the Spanish conquers in 1532 and so escaped destruction. The city comprised more than 200 stone buildings, which were connected by a system of staircases. Some 3000 steps are still preserved. The meaning and purpose of the city is still a matter for debate. No writings or scientific drawings have survived, which is why one can only surmise. The city, whose original name is unknown, was called after a nearby mountain peak, between which the ruined city lies: Machu Picchu. The ruins were not discovered until July 24, 1911, when the ruins were accidentally discovered in the course of a Yale University exhibition led by Hiram Bingham.
LANGUAGE TRAVEL IN PERU:
Language travel Cuzco
Language travel Lima
