Scattered over the country are extensive ruins of ancient temples. convents, palaces, and burial places. many of which undoubtedly long antedate the Incan Empire.
The ruins of the so-called temple. convent. and palace at Tiahuanaco, near the southern extrem ity of Lake Titicaca. in Bolivia. are good exam ples of pre-Incan remains. Although but few stones of the structures are in position. enough remain to show their character and size. In these buildings copper clamps were used to hold the stones in position. The temple was rectangu lar in form. 445 by 355 feet. Here al-o is the famous monolithic doorway. The stone is 13 feet 5 inches long. feet 2 inches high. and IS inches thick. Through this is cut the doorway. 4 feet 6 inches high and 2 feet 9 inches wide. Scattered about the ruins are blocks of sandstone. trachvte. and basalt. many of them symmetrically cut and elegantly decorated. When Tiahuanaco was first visited by Europeans these structures had been in ruins for such a length of time that even na tive traditions were silent as to their builders.
At Pachacamae (q.v.) the Incas erected a magnificent Temple of the Sun. a House of the Virgins of the Sun, and a temple to Pachacamac. The temple was rifled of a vast amount of gold and silver by the Spaniards.
On the islands of Titicaca and Coati. in Lake Titicaca. are a number of famous ruins. The isl and of Titicaca was dedicated to the sun. and was the sacred island of Peru. Its most notable ruins are those of the Palace of the Incas. the Store house of the Sun. and the Bath or Fountain of the Incas. The Temple. a stone building 51 by 44 feet. and two stories high, is in a fair state of preservation. The walls were covered inside and out with stucco. and painted. as may be seen by patches still remaining on the stones. The large stone edifice called the Storehouse by the early chroniclers gained its title from the darkness of its small rooms and connecting passages. which precluded the idea that it had been used as a habitation. The Bath or Fountain has suffered but little from time. It is a pool 40 by 100 feet, and 5 feet deep. paved with worked stones and fed by four streams of water from openings cut in the stone.
On the island of Coati (dedicated to the moon) are two groups of ruins. The principal of these, the Palace of the Virgins of the Sun, is in a fair state of preservation. It is rectangular in form, 183 feet long by SO broad. The structure. built of roughly cut stones, was two stories high. The
first story is divided into thirty-five apartments of various sizes. The floors of the upper rooms, which were probably of wood, have disappeared. The second group consists of stone buildings with narrow passages between them. These and simi lar buildings on Titicaca are believed to have been used for ceremonies through which pilgrims were obliged to pass before visiting the sacred shrines.
At Cuzco the Temple of the Sun was said to have been the most imposing, edifice in all Peru. Existing remains confirm the accounts of the early chroniclers. Surrounding the Temple were other buildings, dedicated to the Moon. Venus, the Pleiades, the Thunder and Lightning, and the Rainbow.
Among the other notable ruins of Peru may be mentioned those of the ancient city of Chini, consisting of a labyrinth of ruined walls, dwell ings and other structures, and gigantic huaeas, or burial places; Sillustani with its ehulpas or stone burial towers and sun-circle; the great for tress in the valley of Caiiete, near Lima: those of Hervai, in the valley of lluareu (also near Lima). including a temple said to have been dedi cated to the oracle-deity. Rimac; the rock tombs of 011antaytambo, these tombs being excavations, natural or artificial, in the face of a high cliff, within which the dead were placed and walled up with stones, stuccoed over and painted. Here also are the ancient porphyry quarries, and the remains of numerous Inca walls and structures.
Consult : Raimondi, El. Peril (Lima, 187-1 1902) : Paz Soldan, DiCei0)?(Iri0 grogrdfico-esta distieo del Peril (ib., 18791 ; Markham, Cu:.-ko and Lima (London, 1S38) ; id., trans., Travels of Cirza de Lron (ih., 1S61) ; id., Peru (ib., 1881) : Squier. Observations on the Geography and Arekeology of Peru (New York, 1S70) : id.. Trav els and Exploration in the Land of the Incas (New York, 1877) ; Chi"-rot, Le Perot' (Paris, 1876) ; Wiener, Perm/ et Bolirie (ib., 1580) ; Bates, Central and South America (London, 1882) ; Middendorf, Peru : Erobarhtungen and Studien, etc. (Berlin, 1S93) ; Haenke. Deserip eiGn del Peril (Lima, 1901) ; and the writings of Tschudi. For the history: Garcilaso de la Vega. Royal COM MCI? arieS of Peru, trans. by Markham (London, 1869) ; Prescott. History of the Con guest of Peru (Philadelphia, 1868) : Mark ' ham, The War Between Peru and Chili, 1.ti'79-S1 (London, 18S3) ; id., A History of Peru (ib., 1S92).