Peru Machu Picchu (photo)

Archaeological site of Moray in the Sacred Valley near Cuzco. Moray - is the name of the Incan ruins near the town of Maras, Peru that sits six hundred meters above Urubamba and the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Moray is the name of the Incan agricultural laboratory that was likely used to cultivate resistant and hearty varieties of plants high in the Andes. The site is not on the typical tourist agenda; however, it is included in the boleto touristico offered in Cuzco and is on the way back from Machu Picchu between Ollantaytambo and Pisac. The Agricultural Laboratory of the Incas - Three large natural depressions in which terraced co-centric circles were constructed. Seeds cultivated at this site were likely sent throughout the Incan empire to improve yield in the harsh conditions of the Andes and were probably one of the benefits offered by the Incas for peaceful incorporation of neighboring tribes into the Incan empire. Today the site is a series of co-centric circles on plateaus 400 m above the valley floor (3,200-3,500 m above sea level). The site was designed by the Incas to take advantage of natural depressions below the level plain and model Andean, jungle and semi-tropical environments for the growth of different plant varieties. Pollen studies indicate that soils from each of these regions was imported by the Incas to each of the large circular basins. In the largest of the depressions (150 m) a series of water channels can be seen finding their way to the bottom. Studies have found temperature variations up to 5 degrees Celsius.