Logistics of a mountaintop city

[Aldarion]

So looking at a city located on a mountaintop or a mountain plateau (think Machu Picchu), how would the city logistics works? Most cities had immediate farmland to provide food, but how could a mountaintop city solve food issues (I already have ideas on water, mind you)? Is there a limit on how high city could be positioned above the plain? And what was the maximum practical size a mountaintop or hilltop city could achieve?

NOTE: We are talking about specifically medieval city here.

 

[ThinkerX]

The best real-world example would be the Inca. From Google:

The population of the Inca capital city of Cuzco at its peak was around 150,000 people. The Inca Empire's population is estimated to have been between 6 and 14 million people before the Spanish arrived in the New World. However, the population plummeted to less than 1.5 million people within 50 years of the Spanish arrival due to disease and warfare

 

[Finchbearer]

Machu Picchu may not have been built in the medieval period, just after, but they would have used more along the lines of ‘medieval technology’, that is when compared to Western Europe, so why wouldn’t you use Machu Picchu as the model? There are pre-medieval era similar high altitude ‘cities’.

As far as population levels go, that would depend on more than just food and water availability. Maybe there is a religious or sacred element to it, such as a passing place for pilgrims. That would attract some wealth into the area for instance. Maybe they export something of worth, wool or textiles perhaps.

With Machu Picchu, despite being at a high altitude there is a lot of rainfall in that area of the world. Maybe the pyramid structure and lots of clever terracing would have provided enough farmland and water resource. I don’t know about the specific crops, but in that part of the world at high altitude, you’re talking lots of starchy carbs, such as potatoes, and animal fat and dairy. Alpacas, llamas, sheep, cows, chickens etc. and herbs that grow at that altitude to flavour things. If food and water are covered, you can pretty much live as long as the politics aren’t too tumultuous.

 

[Aldarion]

Machu Picchu may not have been built in the medieval period, just after, but they would have used more along the lines of ‘medieval technology’, that is when compared to Western Europe, so why wouldn’t you use Machu Picchu as the model? There are pre-medieval era similar high altitude ‘cities’.

As far as population levels go, that would depend on more than just food and water availability. Maybe there is a religious or sacred element to it, such as a passing place for pilgrims. That would attract some wealth into the area for instance. Maybe they export something of worth, wool or textiles perhaps.

With Machu Picchu, despite being at a high altitude there is a lot of rainfall in that area of the world. Maybe the pyramid structure and lots of clever terracing would have provided enough farmland and water resource. I don’t know about the specific crops, but in that part of the world at high altitude, you’re talking lots of starchy carbs, such as potatoes, and animal fat and dairy. Alpacas, llamas, sheep, cows, chickens etc. and herbs that grow at that altitude to flavour things. If food and water are covered, you can pretty much live as long as the politics aren’t too tumultuous.

Thanks! And yes, Machu Picchu is one of the models I had used for the city.

But in this case, it is basically a fortress city built for reasons of security - a retreat for administration, so to speak.