Page 148 - How It Works - Book Of Amazing Answers To Curious Questions, Volume 05-15

Inca architecture

How the Incas built

impressive structures and
simple homes

The Incas were excellent stonemasons,
constructing buildings that were uniform in
design, incredibly stable and pleasing to the
eye. The clean lines and trapezoidal windows
and doorways in their structures soon became
recognisable as their settlements spread west
across South America. Grand palaces and
humble homes were built in much the same
way, and could only be differentiated by their
size and the quality of the stone fi nish. Some
more ambitious designs also featured curved
walls and gold sheeting, but most buildings
were much simpler. Homes were typically built
in a kancha, an enclosure of several single-room
structures built around a courtyard and
enclosed by a wall.

Building materials
Inca houses were built from stone blocks
shaped using harder stones and bronze
tools. These blocks could weigh many tons
and were moved using a system of ropes,
logs, levers and ramps. It could take many
months to build a single wall.
Grand palaces

and humble
homes were

built in much the

same way
Qurikancha, the temple of the Sun,
was once covered in gold
Sun worship Grand structures
Stone blocks were cut so precisely that they
The Incas worshipped several nature gods, interlocked perfectly, and no mortar was
including a Moon goddess and a god of thunder, necessary to hold the walls together.
as they were believed to control the natural
world and prevent disasters such as fl oods and
droughts. However, one of their most important
gods was Inti, the Sun god and giver of heat and
light. Inca rulers were regarded as Inti’s
representative on Earth and the Incas
considered themselves the ‘children of the Sun’.
Their religious ceremonies took place according
to the movements of the Sun, with offerings of
food, drink, and animal and human sacrifi ces
made to Inti. Most buildings, doors and windows
were constructed to align with the sunrise and
other astronomical events, and temples were
also devoted to the Sun god. One of the most Simple dwellings
sacred buildings, the Qurikancha temple in the Smaller stones were set into place with
capital of Cuzco, was once covered in gold to mud, or dried mud bricks called adobe
reflect the Sun’s light and represent its power. were used instead.

148 How It Works