Introduction Historical context The natural setting About the disoccupation when discovered Description of Machu Picchu The agricultural sector The hanan section The main plaza and the urin section Wayna Picchu and the temple of the moon Reconstructing the past The productive activities Description of Machu Picchu The main plaza and the urin section ---------Select---------The Sacred Rockcomplex-------------------------The houses of the north------------------------The palace of threeportals-------------------------The collcas of the east-------------------------The mausoleum of theeast-------------------------The aqllawasi-------------------------The Crypt of the Condor-------------------------The houses below The crypt of the Condor The Crypt of the Condor is located across from the gardens of the royal palace. Its main entrance goes to the street that separates this complex from the aqllawasi. It has two sections: an upper, linked to a grouping of great rocks, and another, lower, with an elegant crypt associated with the allegory of what appear to be a flying condor. It has, in addition, on its lower terraces a fountain similar to the one at the royal mausoloeum. Whereas to reach the front door to the aqllawasi, it is necessary to climb some stairs, to arrive at the Crypt of the Condor, it is necessary to go down; that is to say, the aforementioned street has a stretch which goes up and another which goes down, this last by way of a ramp. We enter the complex, in the upper section, through a portal with double jambs whose ashlar faced walls do not have the finishing of those of the aqllawasi nor even of those of the royal mausoleum. This portal has on one side the secondary door that leads to the terrace that encircles the Crypt on the west face, as if it were the rampart of a fortress. The first stretch of this wall has six windows which look at the south end of the main plaza, and, therefore at the royal palace and tomb. The following has a line of nine large hornacinas with little windows which give in the same direction. The terrace, which passes to the side and over the chambers of the lower section, ends in a curved wall which forms the chamber with a semi-oval floor plan from which the Crypt can also be entered. Once through the double-jambed front portal we can continue to the left, where a long flight of steps which is prolonged to the dry moat that protects the citadel at its southern end. This flight of steps fulfills a function like that of the peripheral flight of steps which begins at the entrance portal to Machu Picchu in the hanan section. If we follow to the right, some stairs lead us to the Crypt, first passing a door which opens to the chamber with the irregular floor plan, with hornacinas and windows, open to the patio of the Condor, and which is thought to have been roofed. This chamber is behind the rock which covers the caves of the Crypt. pag. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4