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Machu Picchu is one of the most breathtaking sacred sites in the world.
Photo
Bruno Furnari. 
The "body of the condor" at Machu Picchu. Photo
Bruno Furnari. 
Llamas among the ancient ruins. Photo
Bruno Furnari. 
Photo
Nathan Nelson.
Photo
Sam Judson.
Mountains behind the residential quarters. Photo
Jack.
Temple of the Sun at Machu Picchu. Photo
Michel.
Agricultural terraces on Machu Picchu. Photo
Jack.
View of Machu Picchu from the Inca Trail. Photo
Jack.
Terraced ruins with a mountain backdrop. Photo
Bruno Furnari.Machu Picchu (literally, "old peak" and frequently dubbed the "Lost City of the Incas"), is a ruined ancient Incan town high on a mountain ridge in Peru. It is located at an elevation of about 6,750 feet above the Urubamba Valley, and is probably the most familiar symbol of the Inca Empire. Machu Picchu has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it is the end point of the most popular hike in South America: the Inca Trail.
History
The story of Machu Picchu is quite a remarkable one and it is still unknown exactly what role the site played in Incan life. One thing that is clear is that it was a remarkably well hidden place, and well protected. Located far up in the mountains of Peru, visitors had to travel up long valleys littered with Incan check points and watch towers.
Remarkably, the Spanish conquistadors missed the site, and Bingham only discovered the site by chance. On a wet day in 1911, he travelled up the slopes with a few companions from his expedition. On meeting local peasants, they told him about ancient ruins that covered the area. To Bingham's amazement, he had found the lost Incan city of Machu Picchu.
In 1913, the site received a significant amount of publicity after the National Geographic Society devoted their entire April 1913 issue to Machu Picchu. Bingham made several more trips and conducted excavations on the site through 1915. He wrote a number of books and articles about Machu Picchu; his account, Lost City of the Incas, became a bestseller.
What to See
It is generally thought that the city was built by the Sapa Inca Pachacuti starting in about 1440 and was inhabited until the Spanish conquest of Peru in 1532. Archeological evidence (together with recent work on early colonial documents) shows that Machu Picchu was not a conventional city, but a country retreat town for Incan nobility (similar to the Roman villas).
The site has a large palace and temples to Incan deities around a courtyard, with other buildings for support staff. It is estimated that a maximum of only about 750 people resided in Machu Picchu at any one time, and probably only a small fraction of that number lived in the town during the rainy season and when no nobility were visiting.
The site was probably chosen for its unique location and geological features. It is said that the silhouette of the mountain range behind Machu Picchu represents the face of the Inca looking upward towards the sky, with the largest peak, Waynapicchu, representing his nose.
The Inca believed that the solid rock of the Earth should not be cut and so built this city from rock quarried from loose boulders found in the area. Some of the stone architecture uses no mortar, but rather relied on extremely precise cutting of blocks that results in walls with cracks between stones through which a credit card will not pass.
In 2003, some 400,000 people visited Machu Picchu, and UNESCO has expressed concern about the damage this volume of tourism is causing to the site. Peruvian authorities insist that there is no problem, and that the remoteness of the site will impose natural limits on tourism. Periodically, proposals are made to install a cable car to the site, but such proposals have so far always been rejected.
Getting There
Many buses leave Cuzco for Machu Picchu and there are frequent trains from Cuzco to Aquas Calientes, the town below Machu Picchu. From there you can hop on a bus to take you up to the ruins. If you are in a rush, you can also take a helicopter from Cuzco.
One of the many advantages of hiking the scenic Inca Trail is that you can enjoy Machu Picchu in relative solitude before the busloads of tourists show up around 10am.
Plan a Trip
- Machu Picchu Hotel Reviews - TripAdvisor
- Machu Picchu Travel Forum - TripAdvisor
More Information
- Row erupts over Peru's tourist treasure - BBC News, December 27, 2003
- Inca site cable car plan sparks anger - BBC News, August 23, 1999
- Machu Picchu – Wikipedia
- Machu Picchu - Wikitravel
- Machu Picchu Portal - in-depth information about the Incas, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu
- Machu Picchu on the Web - annotated links
- Rediscovering Machu Picchu by Bruce Fellman, Yale Alumni Magazine, December 2002.
- Virtual tour of Machu Picchu and Peru - Destination Peru
- Photographs of Machu Picchu by James Q. Jacobs
- Machu Picchu, Lost City of the Incas by Antonio Gutierrez
- Field Museum exhibit website Chicago, Oct. 15, 2004 - Feb 13, 2005.
- Machu Picchu on the Inca Trail
- Inca Trail to Machu Picchu - photos of Machu Picchu
Book Your Trip
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Location Map
Below is a location map and aerial view of Machu Picchu. Using the buttons on the left, zoom in for a closer look or zoom out to get your bearings. Click and drag the map to move around. For a larger view, see our Peru Map or get our free Google Earth download.
