Secret of the Incas shot in Peru before. Wendell Corey was originally announced as star. In July 1953 Paramount took over Hal Wallis' contract with Charlton Heston and announced he would make the film after he finished "The Naked Jungle". "Secret of the Incas" was filmed on location in Peru at Cuzco and Machu Picchu, the first time that a major Hollywood studio filmed at this archeological site. A sixteen person unit including Heston, producer Mel Epstein and director Jerry Hopper spent a month filming footage in Peru in 1953. Five hundred indigenous people were used as extras in the film. The film also
Intihuatana, Urubamba century, the Viceroy Francisco de Toledo and the clergy destroyed those "Intihuatana" which they could find. They did so as they believed that the Incas' religion was a blasphemy and the religious significance of the "Intihuatana" could be a political liability. The "Intihuatana" of Machu Picchu was found intact by Bingham in 1911, indicating that the Spanish conquerors had not found it. The "Intihuatana" of Machu Picchu was carved directly into the bedrock of the mountain's summit area. It is characterized by complex surfaces, planes and angles whose purpose at this time is unknown. Incomplete descriptions of its purpose by