Geometry in the Real World

Cajamarca Main Square, Plaza de Armas, Peru, Golden Rectangle

Successive Golden Rectangles dividing a Golden Rectangle into squares (logarithmic spiral known as the golden spiral).


Cajamarca Main Square, Plaza de Armas and Golden Rectangle
Cajamarca is located in the northern highlands of Peru. It is approximately 2,700 m (8,900 ft) above sea level and has a population of about 283,767 people.

The area of the city has been occupied by varying cultures for more than 2000 years. Traces of pre-Chavin cultures can be seen in nearby archaeological sites, such as Cumbe Mayo and Kuntur Wasi.

During the period between 1463 and 1471, Tupac Inca conquered the area and brought Cajamarca into the Tawantinsuyu, or Inca Empire. At the time, it was ruled by Tupac's father Pachacuti.

In 1532 Atahualpa had beaten his brother Huáscar in a battle for the Inca throne in Quito (in present-day Ecuador). On his way to Cusco to claim the throne with his army of 80,000 soldiers, he stopped at Cajamarca. Francisco Pizarro and his 168 soldiers met Atahualpa here after weeks of marching from Piura. Fernando de Soto and friar Vicente de Valverde delivered the Requerimiento, demanding him to yield to the Spanish. When Atahualpa refused, Pizarro declared the Inca an enemy of the Church and Spain. The Spanish Conquistadors and their Indian allies captured Atahualpa in the Battle of Cajamarca,

In 1986 the Organization of American States designated Cajamarca as a site for the Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Americas. Source: Wikipedia: Cajamarca.

Golden rectangle
A golden rectangle is a rectangle whose side lengths are in the golden ratio, one-to-phi, that is, approximately 1:1.618. A distinctive feature of this shape is that when a square section is removed, the remainder is another golden rectangle, that is, with the same proportions as the first. Square removal can be repeated infinitely, which leads to an approximation of the golden or Fibonacci spiral.
 

Cajamarca Main Square, Plaza de Armas, Peru, Golden Rectangles

 

 

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