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Choquequirao: The Hidden Inca City of the Sacred Llamas

Every culture has something else sacred - the Incas did it with the llamas . They immortalized the animals in a hidden city 3000 meters high in the Andes, not far from the famous Machu Picchu . Archaeologists found out: The whole complex points to a Lama constellation. The ascent from the Andean village of Cachora to the ruins of Choqequirao takes almost two days. About 160 kilometers northwest of the ancient Inca capital of Cusco and 3,000 meters above sea level, there is a complex of more than 2,000 hectares that was only slightly inferior in grandeur to its famous neighbor Machu Picchu in its heyday. Today the visitor sees in the " Golden Cradle ", as the name translates, terraces, squares, temples, fountains and canals overgrew with vegetation; only thirty percent of the city has been cleared of the undergrowth. In the 17th and 18th centuries, this place, which is described in Spanish documents as the silver city, was difficult to access and far from larger settlements