Pisac

I went on a trip round Cusco's Sacred Valley, which, together with Machu Picchu, formed the heart of the Inca Empire. First stop, Pisac.

Pisac has a village known for its lively handicrafts market in the main square. A path winds from the square past agricultural terraces up to Pisac Archaeological Park, a hilltop Incan citadel with ancient temples, plazas and military and agricultural structures. As a fortress, it would defend the Southern entrance of the "Sacred Valley of the Incas" from enemies coming from the neighboring rain forest. As a religious site, it included temples and cemeteries. On the agricultural side, the area was part of the royal farm of the Inca Pachacutec. The awesome agricultural terraces - still in use - on the steep hillsides of the Sacred Valley reinforce the importance the Incas gave to agriculture and to the feeding of its population. They devised ingenious channels and waterways to ensure rainwater was evenly distributed across the terraces and the crops were not washed away in heavy rains. However, in the early 1530s, the troops of the the Spanish conquerors, led by Francisco Pizarro, sadly destroyed most parts of Pisac.Les mer