Here is a look at the Temple of the Sun. They would not let us inside. It was made of nice stone. Supposedly, if you look through the window you can see the sunrise. On the winter solstace, the sunrise (as viewed through the window) will occur precisely at a small 'V' between two distant mountains. By noting this event, the high priest could tell when to plant crops, harvest, etc. Many of Machu Picchu's temples are designed for purposes such as this. By the way, at this 'V' in the mountains, they constructed 'The Gate of the Sun', which is a little building. I went there later.
The cleft between the two peaks at the extreme left of this picture is the Gate of the Sun. You could barely make out a structure up there from this distance.
Directly under the Temple of the Sun was a cave. This was the 'Temple of the Earth'. It supposedly contains a doorway to the underworld. Spooky. This picture is diagonal. I wanted to capture as much as possible, but my computer software won't let me rotate the picture. Sorry. Imagine that the wall on the right is vertical.
Condors were big in Inca times. They were the messengers of the gods. They had their own temple, which was also a cave. If you use your imagination, the wall of the cave swoop up, like the wings of a condor. In front of the cave they carved a condor head out of a rock. Unfortunately, the Inca did not provide a reasonable place to take a picture of this temple, so you can't see much.
Another angle at the Condor Temple. The thing on the floor to the left that looks like a 'C' is the neck and head of the condor. I am standing at the top of the left wing.
The aptly named, 'Temple of Three Windows'.
This is a picture of a square block that was carved out of stone. There is a compass next to the block. It is showing that the corner of the block points directly to magnetic north. The Incas did things like that.
This is the ruins of the sacrificial temple. The Inca mostly sacrificed llamas to the gods, but now and then they used a person. The big stone slab in the middle is where they did the deeds. Contrary to popular belief, the Inca didn't make a big deal about it. The whole building was closed in and only priests were allowed inside. No spectators. Notice also the large number of alcoves for idols. The gods were allowed to watch.
Here is larger picture of the sacrificial temple, just above the tree at the bottom center. It used to have a roof and four walls. On the hill above it is the place where the compass rock is located. To the right of the temple is a large field that used to serve as a marketplace, meeting area. It had a big rock obelisk in the middle, but people knocked it down to allow helicopters to land there. They intend to stand it back up soon though.
