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stone, the doorways being narrower above than below. On the island of Coati there are remarkable ruins. The largest building here is also described as "a palace or temple," although it may have been something else. It was not high, but very large in extent. It stood around three sides of a parallelogram, with some peculiarities of construction connected with the ends or wings. Making allowance for the absence of the pyramidal foundations, it has more resemblance to some of the great constructions in Central America than to any thing peculiar to the later period of Peruvian architecture. Another ruin on this island is shown in Figure 54. The antiqui

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ties on the islands and shores of this lake need to be more completely explored and described, and probably interesting discoveries could be made at some points by means of well-directed excavations.

A few miles from Lake Titicaca, at Tiahuanaco, are ruins which were very imposing when first seen by the Spaniards in the time of Pizarro. It is usual to speak

of them as the oldest ruins in Peru, which may or may not be correct. They must, however, be classed with those at the lake. Not much now remains of the edifices, which were in a very ruinous condition three hundred and forty years ago. They were described by Cieça de Leon, who accompanied Pizarro, and also by Diego d'Alcobaça. Cieça de Leon mentions "great edifices" that were in ruins,“ an artificial hill raised on a groundwork of stone," and "two stone idols resembling the human figure, and apparently made by skillful artificers." These "idols" were great statues, ten or twelve feet high. One of them, which was carried to La Paz in 1842, measured "three and a half yards" in length. Sculptured decorations appear on them, and, according to Cieça de Leon, the figures seemed to be "clothed in long vestments" different from those worn in the time of the Incas. Of a very remarkable edifice, whose foundations could be traced near these statues, nothing remained then "but a well-built wall, which must have been there for ages, the stones being very much worn and crumbled." Cieça de Leon's description goes on as follows:

"In this place, also, there are stones so large and so overgrown that our wonder is incited, it being incomprehensible how the power of man could have placed them where we see them. They are variously wrought, and some of them, having the form of men, must have been idols. Near the walls are many caves and excavations under the earth, but in another place, farther west, are other and greater monuments, such as large gateways with hinges, platforms, and porches, each made of a sin

gle stone. It surprised me to see these enormous gateways made of great masses of stone, some of which were thirty feet long, fifteen high, and six thick."

Many of the stone monuments at Tiahuanaco have been removed, some for building, some for other purposes. In one case, "large masses of sculptured stone. ten yards in length and six in width" were used to make grinding stones for a chocolate mill. The principal monuments now seen on this field of ruins are a vast mound covering several acres, where there seems to have been a great edifice, fragments of columns, erect slabs of stone which formed parts of buildings, and several of the monolithic gateways, the largest of which was made of a single stone ten feet high and thirteen broad. Figure 55 gives a view of one. The doorway is six feet four inches

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high, and three feet two inches wide. Above it, along the whole length of the stone, which is now broken, is a cornice covered with sculptured figures. "The whole neighborhood," says Mr. Squier, "is strewn with im

Fig. 56.-Remains of Fortress Walls at Cuzco.

mense blocks of stone elaborately wrought, equaling, if not surpassing in size, any known to exist in Egypt or India."

At Cuzco, two or more degrees north of Lake Titicaca, there are ruins of buildings that were occupied until the rule of the Incas was overthrown. Remains of the old structures are seen in various parts of the present town, some of them incorporated into new edifices built by the Spaniards. Cyclopean remains of walls of the Temple of the Sun now constitute a portion of the Convent of St. Domingo. In the days of the Incas, this temple stood "a circuit of more than four hundred paces," and was surrounded by a great wall built of cut stone. Remains of

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the old fortifications are seen; and there is an extensive ruin here which shows what is supposed to be all that remains of the palace of the Incas. Figures 56 and 57 give views of remains of the ancient fortress walls at

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