Saksaywaman (Saqsayhuaman)

As with many of the other cities of Peru, Saksaywaman has many alternative spellings, but most tourists refer to it as "Sexy Woman."  In the Quechua language of the Incas, Saksaywaman means "satisfied falcon."  It sits high above the city of Cusco, like a falcon's aerie in the perfect strategic position to protect the city below.

It was at one time a huge fortress, built in a manner similar to concentric castles of the middle ages in Europe, allowing the defenders to withdraw within the next inner sanctum when one wall was breached.  The inner walls and towers were terraced onto higher ground than the outer wall.

The longest of its walls measures about 450 yards, and it is built of massive Andesite boulders, some weighing 150 to 200 tons each, according to experts.  It makes anyone wonder how primitive people could have possibly smoothed and fit such huge stones together so perfectly that a piece of paper could not slide through the joints between stones, and all without benefit metal tools, much less jackhammers, pneumatic saws or lasers.  Even moving them into position would seem to have been impossible without modern motorized cranes.

Unfortunately, the walls no longer stand nearly as high as they once did, as the Conquistadors forced their Andean labor to drag the boulder blocks down to Cusco, over a mile away, to be used in rebuilding the city to Spanish architectural standards.  While it may sound like archaeological sacrilege to have destroyed such an amazing fortress, the Conquistadors had their reasons.

After the Siege of Cusco, in which Manco II parlayed his victory at Ollantaytambo with a nearly successful 10-month campaign to re-take Cusco using Saksaywaman as his headquarters, the Spaniards acted decisively to ensure the fortress could never be utilized for such purposes again by systematically dismantling it piece by piece.  We're fortunate that apparently some of the blocks were too big to move, although perhaps someone recognized the historical significance and left the ruins behind intentionally for posterity, once its practical function as a fortress had been laid waste.

Llamas that freely roam the impressive grounds don't seem to mind sharing their home with tourists snapping photos.