An Awe-Inspiring Experience of Machu Picchu

A thousand years before the term “site-specificity” entered the art historical lexicon, the Inca were building expansive settlements that harmoniously melded architecture and the environment. The Peruvian highland people, who established themselves in the Cuzco Valley around 1000 CE, are renowned for their engineering prowess, particularly their ability to shape and fit stones to achieve naturally fortified sites. The most formidable is doubtlessly Machu Picchu (“Old Peak” in Quechua), a citadel erected on a summit about 9,000 feet above sea level and one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Its panoramic views of the Andes and largely intact stone structures, whose definitive purpose remain a mystery, can now be experienced in virtual reality: Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru, an exhibition of nearly 200 ancient Peruvian artifacts and immersive VR “expedition,” opens October 16 at the Boca Raton Museum in South Florida.  More in link.