The Last Inca Rope Bridge
by James Brunker
Title
The Last Inca Rope Bridge
Artist
James Brunker
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
The last surviving Inca rope suspension bridge can be found at Q'eswachaca / Q'eswachaka / Keswachaka in the Cusco Region, where it crosses the upper Apurimac River. Every year villagers of the nearby communities rebuild the bridge by hand in the traditional fashion, starting by weaving new ropes from the local grass. In Inca times maintaining the roads and bridges that connected the empire was part of a labour tax (or mita / mit'a) that all communities had to perform as service to the Inca.
The bridge and its rebuilding process were added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List (Lista de Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial de la Humanidad) in 2013. Many more images of the rebuilding process can be seen in my main image library in this gallery if you are interested: https://www.magicalandes.com/-/galleries/peruvian-festivals/rebuilding-the-last-inca-rope-bridge-qeswachaka
Photograph © James Brunker. Reproduction, transmission or publication in any form without written permission strictly prohibited.
Uploaded
March 12th, 2013
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Viewed 1,013 Times - Last Visitor from Fairfield, CT on 04/24/2024 at 8:50 AM
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Comments (6)
James Brunker
Many thanks for featuring this image in the Shadows Silhouettes and Reflections group Jan!
Yvonne Johnstone
Super image...can hardly believe the bridge is woven yearly!
James Brunker replied:
It's an amazing tradition and event Yvonne, one of the most impressive things I've seen in South America
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