Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. 1 (of 8): Aboriginal America
History
Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. 1 (of 8): Aboriginal America
America -- Discovery and exploration; America -- History; United States -- History
The ruins of the temple of Cacha are in the valley of the Vilcamayu,
south of Cuzco. They were described by Garcilasso de la Vega, and
have been visited and carefully examined by Squier. The main temple
was 330 feet long by 87 broad, with wrought-stone walls and a steep
pitched roof. A high wall extended longitudinally through the centre
of the structure, consisting of a wrought-stone foundation, 8 feet
high and 5½ feet thick on the level of the ground, supporting an adobe
superstructure, the whole being 40 feet high. This wall was pierced
by 12 lofty doorways, 14 feet high. But midway there are sockets for
the reception of beams, showing the existence of a second story, as
described by Garcilasso. Between the transverse and outer walls there
were two series of pillars, 12 on each side, built like the transverse
wall, with 8 feet of wrought stone, and completed to a height of 22
feet with adobes. These pillars appear to have supported the second
floor, where, according to Garcilasso, there was a shrine containing
the statue of Uira-cocha. At right angles to the temple, Squier
discovered the remains of a series of supplemental edifices surrounding
courts, and built upon a terrace 260 yards long.
The peculiarities of the temple of Cacha consist in the use of rows
of columns to support a second floor, and in the great height of the
walls. In these respects it is unique, and if similar edifices ever
existed, they appear to have been destroyed previous to the rise of
the Inca empire. The Cacha temple belongs neither to the cyclopean
period of the Piruas nor to the Inca style of architecture. Connected
with the strange myth of the wandering prophet of Viracocha, it stands
by itself, as one of those unsolved problems which await future
investigation. The statue in the shrine on the upper story is described
by Cieza de Leon, who saw it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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