The Room Of Mirrors In Machu Picchu

The room of mirrors or water mirrors or represent one of the most amazing structures within Machu Picchu. This circular stone, resembling a stone plate, is intricately carved into the ground. When filled with water, it creates a reflective surface that mirrors the sky above. So, the Incas utilized it as an astronomical observatory.

History

When Hiram Bingham returned to Peru, for more extensive journey to Machu Picchu in 1912, he found two large bowl-shaped objects carved into the solid granite floor. He tought that he had come across the Inca’s regular kitchen. These carved granite boulders in the floor appeared to be tools for grinding corn and moraya, a traditional freeze-dried potato. Bingham asked his workers pose for a photo with a large stone nearby to demonstrate his theory. This interpretation remained dominant for many decades.

However, around Bingham’s death in 1956 and the centennial celebration of his “scientific discovery” of Machu Picchu, researchers started to challenge this interpretation, along with many of his other theories. Hugh Thomson, author of notable books such as “Cochineal Red” and “The White Rock: An Exploration of the Inca Heartland,” pointed out that “the depressions are far wider than historical or current Andean mortar-stones would suggest.”

In the 1970s, another interpretation emerged from the field of archaeoastronomy, gaining traction. It proposed that if the depressions were filled with water, they would become reflecting plates — motionless mirrors — that astronomer priests in Incas time could have used to observe the movement of constellations and planets. They may have utilized these reflections to safely monitor the sun’s passage across the zenith.

Today, it is widely accepted that Machu Picchu served as the central hub of a vast network of astronomical observatories. The Inca cosmology was intricately linked to dates in the agricultural calendar.

Frequent Asked Questions About Wáter Mirrors

Where Are The Water Mirrors?

The water mirrors are located closet to the temple of the condor in the lower part of the urban sector.

Visiting Hours

The water mirror is open all day so you can visit any time from 6 am until 5 pm.

Can I touch the water mirrors?

No, visitors are not allowed to touch the Waters mirrors. A safety barrier is in place to ensure visitors can only observe or take photographs from a safe distance.