Stonework at Sacsayshuaman—The City Nephi Built – Part III

Continued from the previous post regarding the fortress and more specifically the gates, entrances and towers found at Sacsayhuaman.

Top: Sacsayhuaman overlooks the Valley of Cuzco; Bottom: Aerial view of the fortress on top of the hill

Located atop a hill on the northern outskirts of Cuzco, the fortress has been spelled many different ways, from Saksaywaman,  Saqsaywaman, Sacsaguaman to Saqawoman. Today it is referred to as Sacsayhuaman (Sack-Say-WO-Mun); however, Juan de Betanzos, considered the most respected Quechua interpreter of the Viceroyalty of Peru, was the official Quechua interpreter for the Conquistadors, with his wife who was an Inca princess, which for many, makes him one of the most reliable of the Spanish chroniclers, referred to the site as “Xacxaguaman.”
    Both Betanzos and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, made it clear that Sacsahuaman was the name of the hill on which the fortress was built, not the fortress itself. Of this site, conquistador Pedro Sancho de la Hoz, wrote about the craftsmansip of building the walls in poetic prose: “they created a work of architecture that had no parallel in the Old World, either in design or in technical achievement. The walls are monumental and imposing, yet subtle in detail and majestic in appearance. The layout of the walls into the hillsisde and the leveling of the esplanade in front...show the magnitude of the cyclopean stonework, a testimony  to the organizational skills and the technical know-how of its builders.” In addition, Jean-Pierre Protzen said, “What we see today of the Fortress of Saqsa Waman is but a showdown of the splendor it once held…its dismantling started in 1537, five years after the Spaniards reached Cuzco.”
    Pizarro’s lieutenant-governor in Cuzco, Antonio de la Gama, tried to halt the demolition by imposing in 1561 a fine of 100 gold pesos on anyone caught removing stones from the fortress and its terrace walls, but the destruction later commenced once again as the large stones became a quarry for the building of Spanish Cuzco.By 1740 significant portions of the third wall west of its central gates leveled to the ground, as well a major damage to the second and first walls. Armiento de Gamb oa stated that the fortress stood intact until the time of the struggle between Pizarro and Almagro,but right after that the Spaniards started to dismantle the fortress to use the stones down in Cuzco—he and Cie de León both wrote of their sorrow when looking at the remaining ruins. It is today estimated that only 40% of the original stonework remains.
    While these ruins are only a shadow of what once existed on the hill overlooking Cuzco, they still well represent the architecture an genius of the ancient Peruvians, which had sacred parts such as residential buildings, towers, shrines, warehouses, roads and aqueducts.
    What is not often discussed are the individual parts of the fortress complex, such a the entrance and interior gates (doorways), towers and east and west walls.

Top: The East Wall of Sacsayhuaman above the ancient road into the Valley of Cuzco; Bottom: The West Wall overlooking the Valley below and the present city of Cuzco. The Saclayhuaman fortress was enclosed on three sides by these mammoth stone walls

Gates of Sacsayhuaman. Almost in the middle of each wall was a gate, or entrance, into the tier. These were staggered, so even if someone was able to breach the bottom tier or level they could not reach the second level until they found the next level entrance or doorway. Each of these gates had a name, beginning with the main level entrance, called Viracocha Puncu; the second level gate was named Tiu Puncu, and to get into the top level tier was the Aquahuana Puncu. Each of was on the level before it, and once through it, a series of well-guarded steps would have to be scaled.

In addition to Terraces, Gates, and Towers, the main building in the complex was the Temple to thee God Inti, the creator of the world and the most venerated deity in ancient Peru

In order to reach the first level of the complex, the entrance gate is on the ground level at the base of the outer wall. Once through the entrance gate, there are a series of steps to actually reach the first level from which a 180º view is offered out over the “parade ground’ and the rocks beyond, called the Rodadero.
    To block off or secure any of the three gates or doorways, a stone as high and as thick as the wall itself could be lowered each night and raised each morning—or lowered at any time in case of attack, making it near impossible to breach the complex through the entrance.
    This brings to mind Mormon’s statement “the Lamanites could not cast their stones and their arrows at them that they might take effect, neither could they come upon them save it was by their place of entrance…the Lamanites could not get into their forts of security by any other way save by the entrance” (Alma 49:4,18).

The Tiupuncu Gate (Gate of Sand). The plain at this point is rather sandy or gravelly, thus the name, i.e., The Gate of Sand. It is the main entrance to the fortress

Tiu Puncu Gate. In the middle of the lower wall was the main gate (or door) called Tiupuncu, that led into the terraced ramparts. The plain at this point is rather sandy or gravelly and Tiu means “sand” or “sandy place” and puncu means “gate” or “door.” Consequently, this entrance was called the "Sand Gate or Gate of Sand.” Passing through this terrace gateway were stone steps up a level where one could see northward from this first terrace clear across the parade ground to the Rodadero hill.
    Between this first entrance gate and the next doorway into the subsequent tier is a grassy pathway running between the walls and is continued with each higher level interrupted at intervals by the megalithic walls of gigantic stones each with a towering stone doorway leading into the next higher level.

The Aquahuana Puncu Gate onto the second tier or level of the complex

The Aquahuana Puncu Gate. This gate or door, as did the entrance level gate, had massive stones that could be lowered into place to secure and block entrance. Toward the east end of this second level were 36 drainage channels to keep the tier very well drained.

Top: Lower level of the Viracocha Puncu Gate; Bottom: The Upper Level of the gate

The Viracocha Puncu Gate.  This gate to the third terrace, led onto the highest level or top of the complex. It was named after the god, Viracocha, and represented the ascension into heaven where God dwelt.  This gate had doors suspended from massive lintels.

Stone Gate. A gate deigned to open toward the hill east of Sacayhuaman, referred to a Q’enko.

Terraces. Between each of the three walls and extending the full length of them, there was a space of twenty-five to thirty feet deep. Each space was leveled off to the top of the wall in front. Each wall had its parapet which was more than a vara high (three feet), and behind this the defenders could fight with great security than in the open.

Looking along the second level terrace there is a large and extensive water drainage system for the terraces and drainage  of the three tier fortress complex 

In general, the entire complex of Sacsayhuaman were found traces of an advanced system of water supply for its inhabitants as well as a drainage system with water channels for rainwater. As evidence on the second tier or terrace alone, there were 36 drainage channels to keep the area free of rain and runoff water.
(See the next post, “Stonework at Sacsayshuaman—The City Nephi Built – Part IV, for more on the Sacsayhuaman complex and the towers on the hill)