Machu Picchu and the Legacy of the Incas (15/39)

Machu Picchu and the Legacy of the Incas (15/39)

Machu Picchu is one of the earth's magic places. The ruined city seems to be the work of giants, full of mysteries, unwilling to reveal its secrets.

Nevertheless, more than any other place, it has become the symbol of the vanished culture of its architects, the Incas. They were at the height of their power when they were smitten by a hitherto unknown disease: the insatiable greed for gold which the Europeans introduced to America. This has been responsible, right up to the present day, for the destruction of countless treasures created by the skilful Incan craftsmen, whose empire extended over almost nine hundred thousand square kilometres.

Despite this devastation, numerous buildings, statues and other finds still testify to the creative energy of the Incas and their ancestors.

Machu Picchu ist einer der magischen Orte der Erde. Die Ruinenstadt scheint das Werk von Giganten zu sein, voller Rätsel, unwillig Antworten preiszugeben.

Dennoch wurde sie mehr als jeder andere Ort zum Symbol der versunkenen Kultur seiner Erbauer, der Inka. Diese waren auf dem Gipfel ihrer Macht, als eine bis dahin unbekannte Krankheit über sie hereinbrach: die gnadenlose Gier nach Gold, die Europäer nach Amerika einschleppten. Sie vernichtet bis in unsere Tage Schätze, welche die kunstfertigen Handwerker des knapp neunhunderttausend Quadratkilometer großen Reiches hervorbrachten. Trotz dieses Raubbaus zeugen zahllose Bauten, Statuen und andere Fundstücke vom emsigen Schaffen der Inka und ihrer Vorfahren.

This series portrays landscapes, metropoles, sacred sites and monuments, all of which have made a unique contribution to the cultural heritage of mankind. Each episode breathes life into civilizations which thrived in the past ten thousand years, some of them then vanishing without a trace into the shadows of history. The films describe epochs whose legacy lingers in the perceptions and ideas of our own age, and cult sites which have managed to preserve their religious and cultural power up to the present day.