House of the Inca

The Inca House in Machu Picchu is the most elegant domestic building, and it has several rooms. The central courtyard is enclosed by two spacious, finely finished rooms with beautiful lintels, and two other small rooms with three walls, showing evidence of having had steeply pitched roofs.

On the courtyard floor, two small granite outcrops stand out, which appear to have been used as mortars or grinding stones. Others claim they were mirrors for astronomical observation.

The Apunchiq or Apu Inca of Machu Picchu (representative of the Qhapaq Inca) would have lived in this house, surrounded by his associates and servants. His room was the southeast enclosure, which contains an unusual partition, likely a bathing area, as evidenced by a drainage hole at its base. On one side, a low wall rises like a bed, hence the name «Inca House.»

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