Choquequirao (Choquequirau)

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An impressive ancient city in the Andes, the "Sacred Sister of Machu Picchu"

The recently discovered city of Choquequirao, also called the "Sacred Sister of Machu Picchu" is one of the least heard of large Inca ruins. Even through it is not every far from Machu Picchu, few people ever visit it, due to its remote location.

Only part of it was uncovered so far, but the buildings and aqueducts are in very good condition.

General info about Choquequirao

Choquequirao is a partly excavated ancient Inca city in the Southeastern Peruvian Andes, not far away from Machu Picchu.

This city was called "Sister of Machu Picchu" due to many similarities between them: location is just as remote and the architecture is also similar.

The site of Choquequirao is on the Salcantay mountain range, surrounded by spectacular snowy-peaked mountains and there are abrupt mountain sides very close to it. In the valley below, runs the Apurímac River similarly to the Vilcanota running below Machu Picchu.

Interestingly, the uncovering of this site is also linked to the name of Hiram Bingham, just like in the case of Machu Picchu.

Choquequirao is located at a height of 3.085 m, much higher than Machu Picchu and is less accessible, less known to the great public. This is a good thing, because mass tourism doesn't deteriorate it as it does with the "Old Peak". About 1.800 ha is approximated to be the city's size and 30-40 % has been so far uncovered from the wild vegetation.

As it is in the case of Inca cities, this one also contains the typical temples, dedicated to worshipping the Sun God (Inti), there are the typical agricultural terraces on the mountain sides around it, houses and storage facilities, aqueducts.

It also has a central open space (the pata, as Incas called it), just like in the case of other cities (Ollantaytambo, Machu Picchu etc.).

Choquequirao can also be split into sectors, there is a Popular District and a Sacred one. The latter one has more sophisticated, larger, more important buildings, including temples. Perhaps the higher class Incas (like leaders, priests) lived here.

The past of Choquequirao and the mysteries around it

Presumably in the 15th century, the Inca leader Túpac Inca Yupanqui (or Topa Inca), the son of great Pachacuti, ordered the building of this city, which later became known as the "Last Stronghold of the Sons of the Sun". Túpac Inca Yupanqui might have tried to continue the style of his father by building high and remotely (similarly to how Machu Picchu was built). Maybe he even tried to build a more impressive city than his father did with Machu Picchu.

Nowadays so many Inca cities are called the last "something" of the Incas (Machu Picchu, Paititi, Vitcos etc.) that one get confused which one was what.

After the siege of Cuzco by Pizarro's horsemen, in 1535, the rebel Inca ruler, Manco Cápac II. (Manco Inca Yupanqui) has found refuge behind the walls of this remote city.

The name of Choquequirao is actually a new one, not the ancient name of the city, which could not be preserved due to the facts that the Incas didn't write and that the population abandoned it. In Quechuan, "Choquequirao" means "Cradle of Gold".

Choquequirao was possibly a gateway-checkpoint to the a Vilcabamba (another valley, west of the Urubamba). Some consider that Choquequirao was located at the tip of a triangular-shaped part of the Vilcabamba and Incas controlled the entrance to it. The Spaniards fought for decades until they managed to enter and conquer the Vilcabamba.

Of course, we can look the other ways and say that Choquequirao was built to defend the Sacred Valley. This might seem to have more reason, because the Incan capital was located there.

Some specialists even believe that Choquequirao could have played an important role in the commerce and transportation between Cuzco and the Amazon region. It is speculated that Incas periodically travelled to the Amazon basin and brought merchandise from there, even created settlements there.

Another theory says that this city was a remote religious center of the Incas. Mountain gods and other deities could have been worshipped here.

The discovery of Choquequirao

The city was first mentioned in 1710 in a Spanish document and another one in 1768 by Cosme Bueno, but it was long forgotten afterwards. Even the location of it remained uncertain until Eugène de Santiges came across it again in 1834. Then, in 1837 Léonce Agrand, who was France's consul in Lima came to the site and mapped it, but unfortunately Choquequirao was forgotten again and "got lost" in the deep jungle, just like a needle in a haystack.

The well known American historian, Hiram Bingham rediscovered Choquequirao in 1909, just 3 years before he accidentally came across the most dreamlike city on Earth, Machu Picchu.

In the 1970s, works to uncover the city have started, but unfortunately much of the objects that have previously belonged to it were already gone. Throughout the centuries, Choquequirao was repeatedly the target of robbers, most often, these people were looking for gold, hidden treasures. It is not known if there was any or if anyone ever cam upon a significant amount of valuable objects.