Coricancha - Inca Solar Temple

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Coricancha is the main Sun Temple of the Empire. Only a representative of the highest nobility and, first of all, the current ruler entered it. Representatives of the "simpler" nobility took part in religious events in the adjacent square, where a separate altar was installed. Both the plaza and the altar have survived as part of the courtyard of the Cathedral of Santo Domingo.

As for the decoration of the interior, for Sapa Inca, the degree of luxury can only be guessed at. It is known for certain that huge images of the Sun and the Moon were placed there, made of gold and silver, respectively. When the Spaniards divided the loot, a huge golden disk of the sun went by lot to a certain Mancio Cerro de Legisano, who safely lost it at cards during the next night. This is where the Spanish proverb "Lose the sun until dawn" came from. This case once again illustrates the cultural level of the "winners".

During the heyday of the Empire, life-sized golden lamas "grazed" in this garden. Golden corn grew, with golden butterflies sitting on its petals. There were islands of golden grass in which small golden animals lived. To our great regret, most of this golden garden went to an attempt to ransom the Inca Atualpa from the Spaniards.

But the remains of the golden garden, this is not the most amazing thing that the Spaniards saw when they entered Cuzco. The fact is that the walls of Korikancha (those same semicircular flat slabs) were covered with huge gold plates. And as it turned out later, such "gilding" of the walls was used not only in Coricancha, but also on all other significant religious buildings of the Inca Empire. Naturally, the Spaniards, at the sight of such, literally went crazy.

This plate is in the Gold Museum of Lima. This museum is beautiful in all respects, except for one "but", any photo / video shooting is prohibited in it. If the excursion group is small, then it is almost impossible to cheat and deceive the guards.

The main part of the collection (private collection) consists of finds from the burials of the Lambayeque, Paracas, Chavin, Chimu, Mochica and Nazca cultures. It is believed that these cultures are much older than the Incas, and their descendants "poured" into Tahuantinsuyu with their knowledge and skills.

Now it has become a symbol of Peru and is widely used in souvenirs. In the literature, I did not find information about any outstanding achievements of the ancient doctors of the region, except that they knew how to perform craniotomy, and the patient, oddly enough, could survive. This has been established by archaeologists for certain, since this can be determined by the nature of bone growth after surgery. The remains of several of these patients are on display in the museum:

It is assumed that the need for this "treatment" is due to the weapons used by both the Incas and their predecessors. The main type of weapon was a medium-length rope sling, in which a stone bullet was placed in the middle, launched by spinning in a circular motion. In addition, spears, bows and prototypes of throwing catapults were naturally used. Also used "makan", which I will dwell on in more detail. It is almost like a "tomahawk" with a wooden handle, only the handle was already very strange in shape and even made of noble metal.

Quite an unusual shape, but nowhere is there a mention that these macans are a mystery! Almost in the very center of the exposition of this museum there is an impressive showcase with these "tips". First impression "disassembled watch movement made of gold"! There were makans of such bizarre shapes that it seemed impossible to assume that all this was used only to break the enemy's skull … And the most interesting thing was that next to it there was another showcase with stone tips, which were cobblestones with holes in the center. Feel the difference …

The Gold Museum in Lima is definitely worth a visit, because alas, there are not many genuine ancient gold items left. Everything that fell into the hands of the first Spanish conquistadors (including details of the Golden Garden, Golden Sun, Silver Moon), everything was melted into ingots … Alas …

Inside the Temple of the Sun, various religious buildings are structures. Finely finished granite.

The location of the premises is strictly calculated. There is a hypothesis (not unfounded) that there is a secret underground passage from Coricanchi to Sacsayhuaman. Inca Garcilaso de la Vega mentions him that in childhood he and his comrades tried to pass from the direction of Sacsayhuaman, but could not, because entangled in a maze. And modern tourists are told a different story, for the reliability of which I am not responsible. After the construction of the Cathedral of Santo Domingo, the monks once heard groans right from under their feet. They dismantled the floor and found a half-dead man with a golden ear of corn in his hands. He died in their arms without regaining consciousness …

The masonry of the Coricancha premises is not polygonal; nevertheless, it has withstood all past earthquakes.

It is assumed that the strength of the "non-polygonal" masonry is due to the internal fastening system between the blocks.

And here is a fragment of the wall, widely known in narrow circles, which illustrates the ease with which the builders processed granite. Maybe it's a small "lock", maybe something else … Its size is about the size of the index fingernail.

Coricancha had its own water supply. There are authentic records of the ministers of the Cathedral of Santo Domingo, who complained that this water supply was broken and there was no way to fix it, because none of the Indians know of the location of the water source.

Interestingly, in Coricancha, there are traces of drilling granite everywhere. However, nobody found drills. Inca Garcilaso de la Vega writes unequivocally in his chronicles that the Incas "did not know either drill or saw."

These are two niches of very impressive dimensions, made of granite blocks. Moreover, they have a very strange shape, which has not yet found any logical explanation. It should be borne in mind that the creation of these artifacts required a lot of labor … Why was this done? By whom and when was it done?