Dove, Pachacuti Statue Arm, Aguas Calientes, Per Poster

"Dove on Pachacuti Statue Arm, Aguas Calientes, Peru" by Catherine Sherman. A dove rests on the golden statue arm of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (Also known as Pachacutec) in Aguas Calientes, the town at the foot of the Inca edifice of Machu Picchu in Peru. Pachacuti, Inca emperor from 1438 to 1471, was an empire builder who greatly expanded the Inca empire. He has been likened to Philip II of Macedonia. (Similarly, his son Topa Inca Yupanqui is regarded as a counterpart of Philip’s son Alexander III the Great.) Pachacuti first conquered various peoples in what is now southern Peru and then extended his power northwesterly to Quito, Ecuador. He is said to have devised the city plan adopted for his capital, Cusco, which is in southern Peru. The Machu Picchu buildings were probably built and occupied from the mid-15th to the early or mid-16th century, likely a palace compound for Pachacuti.