The Sacred Valley of the Incas is a territory full of incredible landscapes and unique archaeological sites. One of the most visited are the famous Salineras de Maras , The Salineras de Maras are 46 kilometers from the city of Cusco, in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.- Peru.
This attraction is made up of thousands of small pools carved into the mountainside
The first shallow salt ponds in Maras were probably built by the Wari civilization between 500 and 1100 AD. C. Most of these pools, built along the steep slope of Qoripujio Mountain, were no more than 15 square feet (5 square meters) and 30 centimeters deep.
The salt comes from an underground flow of salty water that bubbles from the Qoripujio mountain source, near an upper section of the valley. For this reason, an intricate network of narrow channels was built to direct the flow of this salt water to each pond. When the water evaporates, the remaining crystallized salt is carefully extracted with shovels and wooden rakes.
The Maras salt ponds are becoming a popular tourist attraction in Cusco for their amazing scenery and historical value.
Access : Coordinates:-13.332778, -72.156389 / To visit the Maras salt mines you must travel to Cusco. From Lima to Cusco, the bus tour lasts around 21 hours and the tickets cost approximately 80 to 100 soles.
Highlights :
- Salineras de Maras is composed of more than 3 thousand natural salt wells near the city of Maras. Each of the wells has a dimension of 5 square meters.
The 3,000 swimming pools are powered by an underground hypersaline source that originated 110 million years ago during the formation of the Andes Mountains. - The collected salt can be purchased on site very cheaply. Once packed and sold in supermarkets, prices tend to triple.
- To visit the Maras salt mines, you must pay a fee of 5 soles to the local community.
- The region’s peak season is during the dry season (April through October), when sunny blue skies are the norm.
- Many experts recommend Maras pink salt for people suffering from hypertension because it has low levels of sodium chloride. Maras salt also contains calcium, iron, zinc, and magnesium, making it a perfect medicinal option for skin conditions and to treat swelling.
- the salt mines of Maras were captured by photography lovers from around the world.
Activities : sightseeing / photo opportunities / trekking- tour guide who explains the salt-making process and answers your questions.
Go next : The city of Maras , Located 4 km from the salt mines is located on a high altitude plateau northwest 60 km of Cusco, / the town of Urubamba in the Sacred Valley. / Moray, an amazing Inca agricultural laboratory, concentric terraces.
