CHOQUEQUIRAO ARCHEOLOGICAL COMPLEX

ETIMOLOGY
Choquequirao (Southern Quechua: Chugi K'iraw, Cradle of Gold)
LOCATION
Choquequirao (3,085 m) is located in the spurs of the Salkantay Mountain Range in the
Province La Convención in the Cusco region above the valley of river Rio Apurimac. Within
the space of just a few kilometers, the area is home to such varying eco-systems as glaciers
at over 6,000 m.a.s.l down to steamy tropical valleys at just 1,800 meters.
EXTENSION
1.810 Hectares, only thirty percent of this extension has been rescued by the thick
vegetation that during the many centuries covered this real Inca jewel.
History
The site was built during the reign of the Inça king Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui. It may be the
last bastion of resistance and refuge of the Sons of the Sun who fled Cusco when it was
under siege in 1535. Led by Manco Inca Yupanqui they took refuge in Choguequirao.
Presumably "Chaquequirao was probably one of the entrance checkpoints to the
Vilcabamba region Area and as a cultural and religious center for the region and also an
administrative hub serving political, social and economic functions. The city also played an
important role as a link between the Amazon Jungle and the city of Cusco.
Discovery
Choquequirao's first non-Incan visitor was the explorer Juan Arias Díaz in 1710. The
document describes "Choquequirao as one of four ancient towns of the nobility in the
Vilcabamba region.
The first written site reference in 1768 was made by Cosme Bueno, on orders of Viceroy
Marqués de Villagarcia, Bueno provided a description of the provinces of the Bishopric of
Cusco. He reported on an ancient town called Choquequirao.
In 1847 Leonce Agrand mapped the site for the first time, but his maps were forgotten.
In 1874 Eugene de Santiges rediscovered the site He traveled to Choquequirao via the
Yanama route.
In 1909 invited by President Augusto B. Leguía and with backing from the National
Geographic Society, Hiram Bingham, the discoverer of Machu Picchu, visited
Choquequirao and he came up with a detailed description of the citadel and the site
gained more attention.
In 1993 Percy Paz and Eulogio Aucacóndor took up residence in the citadel and were in
charge of excavation work carried out by 14 workers under the Copesco Plan.
Layout
Its urban design has followed the symbolic patterns of the imperial capital, with ritual
places dedicated to the Sun (Int) and the ancestors, to the earth, water, and other
divinities, with mansions for administrators and houses for artisans, warehouses, large
dormitories or kallankas and farming terraces belonging to the Inca or the local people.
Spreading over 700 meters, the ceremonial area drops as much as 65 meters from the
elevated areas to the main square".
The typical Inca terraces form the largest constructions on site. A temple, some
administrative buildings, and the living quarters of the aristocrats are situated around the
central square. On the outskirts of the site lie the living quarters of the common people
grouped together in a small village. There are water channels, aqueducts, and water
springs. Most buildings are well-preserved and well-restored, restoration continues.
Description
Choquequirao is one of the best-qualified sites to have been inhabited by the Inca elite.
Made from rough stone laid with layers of mud probably covered with stucco.
Most of the buildings were apparently designed with no domestic function in mind, and
many of them were probably used for public functions such as ceremonies. The upper
section of the site was strictly reserved for that purpose, as was the Usnu and the lower
part was a sanctuary probably inhabited by amautas or high priests chosen for this service.
The Usnu was built like a platform generally a pyramid or truncated pyramid to hold
propitiatory rituals during the major festivals of the Tawantinsuyo.
The plaza which stands to the north of the gateway is also a lookout point from where one
can gaze into the dizzying depths of the Apurimac and the woods surrounding the
complex. From this rectangular plaza, one enters almost without realizing it into a large
pentagonal plaza lined by a set of building dubbed the "palace". A cluster of three
chambers stands on the southwestern side and a long "kallanka" with four doors to the
west. The three houses are associated with a fountain built from stone blocks like baths,
which is found inside a chamber to the far south and which is filled by a fine canal that
channels water from the upper reaches of the citadel. It features four entrances, which are
linked between them by long, narrow niches almost two meters high.
The northern front of the plaza provides access to a building that is clearly a two-story
house. A long passageway alongside the building leads to two other, similar buildings
which run from south to north.
The palace is associated with a large, six-door Callanca facing east, with its doorways
looking out over a well-finished terrace. Nearby stand a series of rooms that could have
been servants' quarters. All this stand on top of a complex of terracing well laid-out and
which has been partially restored.
The upper sector is where the fine stone water course was built to channel the flow to the
fountain at the three buildings. This section was built entirely for ceremonial purposes,
featuring a plaza large, long building facing south.
The terraces start out in the lower section of the main square. These represent the widest
platform in the citadel, built on three levels and divided by sweeping staircases.
A Peruvian archaeological team with limited funding has recently mapped out the major
site complex and has begun restoration and preservation of part of the structures.
Although only limited excavation has yet been undertaken, ample evidence exists that
Choquequirao was continuously inhabited and that construction continued after the
arrival of the Spanish to Peru in 1532. Choquequirao appears to have been abandoned
undiscovered by Spanish authorities.
WILDLIFE OF CHOQUEQUIRAO
Choquequirau is much more than just a set of buildings and archaeological remains. Its
strategic location gives this unique sanctuary a commanding view of one of the country's
most extraordinary cross-sections in terms of altitude. It is established in three zones:
1. High Andean meadowlands.- The natural world of Choquequirao begins above 4,000
meters, where the wind whistles unceasingly through the ichu grass meadows, and the
rock are lined with lichen and moss. This is the kingdom of the Andean Condor and the
south andean deer, the andean foxes, and skunks (añas). The playful vizcachas (rodent
animal) and the mountain lion.
The Flora is a world of tiny and fragile flowers which bloom in bright colors.
2-Dwarf highland forest- In this zone lives the South American pudú (are the world's
smallest deer. ) or sachacabra, hummingbirds such as the sparkling violetear, tyrian
metaltail (pajarito), great sapphirewing, white tufted sunbeam (rayo de sol acanalado),
mountain velvebreast (colibri aterciopelado), sullun sullun can grow to the size of a
pigeon, bear or ucumari and the highland toucan, is the land of twisted trunks where the
trees are stunted and the moss is gigantic, land of bromeliads, begonias and the oddest
flowers.

3.-The cloud forest, we can see the brightly colored cock of the rocks, flocks of
multicolored tanagers, emerald green toucans and quetzals, ocelots and coatis.

In the cloud forest, the trees grow practically by clinging to the canyon walls, the kingdom
of giant ferns, tillandsias and orchids which number over a hundred species including the
spectacular Wakanki, Wiñay Huayna (forever young).

Finally at the bottom of the great valley and under the sway of the river provides warmth
and the ideal conditions for a wide variety of crops coca leaf, the achiote spice, maize,
cacao, coffee, and fruit trees.

Besides we can find a wide variety of birds like the torrent duck, mountain caracara,
american kestrel (cernicalo americano), white tipped dove (paloma de puntas blancas),
squirrel cuckoo (cuco ardilla), azara's spinetail ,blue and white swallow, great thrush
(zorzal grande), golden billed saltator (saltador de pico dorado), rufous collared sparrow
(gorrión de collar rufo), ash breasted sierra finch (fringilo de pecho cenizo), chestnut
breasted mountain finch (monterita de pecho castaño), hooded siskin (jilguero
encapuchado)
Others species like lizards, snakes, insects, etc.