The stairway to the fountains

This is a tall stairway along which runs a succession of sixteen artificial water falls. Most of these fountains are carefully carved out of polygonal blocks and surrounded by drainage canals gutted out of the very stone. The water comes from a source located in the heights of the Machu Picchu mountain. It was canalised during the Inca era. There is in addition a further system at the mountain top that collects filtered rain-water and directs it towards the main canal.