Listed under Ruined Temples in Sacred Valley, Peru.
The rock formation the Temple of the Condor sits on is condor-esque, but the Incas shaped it further so that it clearly depicts a condor in flight, wings outstretched. If you haven't got the gist there's a condor head carved into the floor, which it's suspected people used to be sacrificed over. The tour guides at Machu Picchu might tell you a sanitised version for the kiddies, but the human shaped grooves in the walls with the shackles and the walkway behind for back-whipping purposes, and the stone dish underneath, perfect for catching spilled blood, suggest that this was a prison and executioner's block and that the condor is a symbol of cruel justice.
It didn't take much to get yourself sacrificed either, lust, laziness and petty theft could all get you sent direct to the gods for punishment.
Under the temple there's a chamber with a mummy in it.
Written by Stuart James.
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