We continue to climb and admire the stonework, as our guide Edwin explains more history of this site -- which served as both a temple and administrative center of the Inca empire. Later, this was one of the remaining strongholds of resistance as the last generations of Inca fought against the Spaniards.
This site also links to some of the main Inca trails, which connect to other villages and sites throughout the Inca Empire (which numbered in the millions of people across a network of roads and trails that covered thousands of miles). The Inca themselves destroyed some of the trails in an effort to protect towns and sites from attack, and it might be because of this that some of the 'lost' sites still exist today.
We stop to admire the massive 'Wall of the Six Monoliths' -- under construction 600 years ago, but never finished. Although some of this site was undoubtedly damaged or destroyed over the years, other parts were never completed. The nearby quarry where each of these 50-ton stones originate still holds partly cut and unfinished slabs, and some work at this site was clearly stopped in mid-cut.
