Maras Moray Urubamba Cusco Peru

Maras Qosqo - Chinchero - Urubamba

is a district of the Urubamba province, possible to be reached through a paved road from kilometer 50 on the road Qosqo - Chinchero - Urubamba. It is located towards the west of Qosqo at an altitude of 3300 mts. (10824 feet); over a plain that in prehistoric times was a huge plateau, from which it is possible to observe the range of mountains of Urubamba including the snow capped mountains of Weqey Willka (today "La Veronica", 5682 mts., 18641 ft.) and " Chikon" (5530 mts., 18143 ft.). It seems that in Maras there was a pre-Inkan settlement with subsequent discontinued occupation. All over this zone there is a large amount of pottery pieces of the "Chanapata" culture, as well as obsidian scrapers and knives. The town was founded in colonial times by Pedro Ortiz de Orue, and its important occupation began when the Cusquenian Inkan noblemen were dispossessed of their palaces in Qosqo and had to move settling some other small towns such as San Sebastian and Maras.

So About around 7 kms. (4.3 miles) away southwest from Maras is Moray , a very unique archaeological site in the region. It is possible to reach it by car or Maras bicycle through the dusty road and the path departing from the town. Those are enormous natural depressions or hollows in the ground surface that Inkas used for constructing irrigated farming terraces around them. The  surprising is that the difference of average annual temperature between the top and the bottom reaches even about 15°C (59°F) in the main depression that is about 30 mts (100 feet) deep. In those natural formations, nature has created an environment, conditions or micro climates that in modern times people create in greenhouses or hothouses.

Moray, because of its climate conditions and many other characteristics, was an important center of domestication, acclimatization and hybridization of wild vegetable species that were modified or adapted for human consumption. Therefore, it is a prototype of a greenhouse or experimental biological station, very advanced for its age that helped so that the ancient American Man could leave for mankind about 60% of the vegetable goods that are consumed; so that the Andean Man could consume three thousand different potato varieties.