Muyuq Marka,[1] also Muyuqmarka (Quechua, hispanicized spellings Moyoc Marca, Muyucmarca, Muyuqmarca, Muyucmarka, Muyuc Marca, Muyuc Marka), is an archaeological site in Peru. It is a round Incan building, which is situated within the fortress Saksaywaman above Cuzco.[2] It was used as a Temple of the Sun,[3] but became part of a complex of rectangular buildings which mostly still remain today.[2]
However, the temple and the two flanking towers were dismantled during the Spanish rule.[4] What remains of Muyuq Marka indicates that it was "a round building with an open central court which had a fountain."[5] The temple had triple walls,[6] which were aligned with the zenith sunrise and the antizenith sunset.[7]
The Muyuqmarka consists of three concentric, circular stone walls connected by a series of radial walls. There are three channels constructed to bring water into what many scientists consider to be a reservoir. A web-like pattern of 34 lines intersects at the centre and also there is a pattern of concentric circles that corresponded to the location of the circular walls.
Originally, the Myuqmarka was a building with 4 superposed floors. The first body would have had a square floor; the second would have been cylindrical; the third would have had also a cylindrical shape. The successive would have formed circular cultivation terraces with decreasing width, being the widest of 3.6 m and the narrowest of 3 m. The tower would have ended up in a conic ceiling. Muyu Marca must have reached a total height of 20 meters. It was as amazing work that generated the admiration of several chroniclers. The Spaniards destroyed it, in spite of the protests both from Cieza and Inca Garcilaso. (3)[8]
References
^Diccionario Quechua - Español - Quechua, Academía Mayor de la Lengua Quechua, Gobierno Regional Cusco, Cusco 2005: Muyuq Marka - s. Arqueol. (Recinto circular de más de dos niveles). Pequeño grupo arqueológico de estructuras de factura inka. ... .
