Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu, often known as “The Lost City of the Incas,” is located in Peru’s Andes at an elevation of 2,430 meters (8,000 feet). It is a 15th century relic located approximately 50 miles from the Inca capital, Cusco. It is recognised as one of the 832 cultural UNESCO culture Heritage sites, providing a stunning glimpse into the culture of the curiously fascinating Incan Empire and ranking among the most popular and remarkable collections of ruins on the earth. A trip to Peru is incomplete without visiting Machu Picchu, which is both expensive and time-consuming. For many travellers to Peru and South America, visiting the Inca city of Machu Picchu is the long-awaited highlight of their journey.
History
It is the most well-known archaeological site on its continent, with a beautiful setting. This magnificent city was never disclosed to the conquering Spaniards. Except for a few German adventurers who looted the site with authorisation from the Peruvian government in 1860, no one knew it existed other than the local Quechua people. Until the early twentieth century, this city was largely forgotten. However, locals pointed out the location to American pre-historian Hiram Bingham, who was investigating Peru’s surrounding territories for the vanished city of Vilcabamba. Machu Picchu, at a height of 1000 feet above the Urubamba River, was designated a Peruvian Historic Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. It is also the end point and ‘reward’ of one of South America’s most popular treks, the Inca Trail.
The history of Machu Picchu is significant; nonetheless, it is still unclear what the site was in terms of its role in Inca life. Despite numerous recent research, its role remains unclear, and archaeologists must rely extensively on assumptions, guesses, and informed guessing to determine its function. Flow specialists believe that Machu Picchu was a national resort for top Incas. Machu Picchu had a population of approximately 750 people at any given time, with significantly less during the stormy season due to its high elevation. The Incas began construction in 1430AD, but it was not used as an official site for the Inca monarchs for another century, around the time of the Inca Empire’s defeat by the Spanish.
One thing that is clear is that it was an amazingly well shrouded place, and very much secured. Situated far up in the mountains of Peru, guests needed to travel up long valleys covered with Inca check focuses and watch towers. Some believe the citadel was founded in the waning years of the last Incas as an attempt to preserve Inca culture or rekindle their predominance, while others think that it may have already become an uninhabited, forgotten city at the time of the conquest. A relatively recent notion suggests that the location was a royal retreat or Pachacutec’s country mansion, which was abandoned after the Spanish conquest. The site’s director believes it was a city with political, religious, and administrative functions. Its location, combined with the discovery of at least eight access routes, shows that it served as a commercial hub between Amazonia and the highlands. Surprisingly, the Spanish conquistadors overlooked the place. In any event, many people are reported to be familiar with the ancient city, which was mentioned in certain twentieth-century content; all things considered, Machu Picchu was not discovered experimentally until Bingham.
Machu Picchu is Peru’s most economically important tourist attraction, drawing visitors from all over the world. It is especially important as a social venue and is revered as a sacred location because the Spanish did not raid it after defeating the Incas. Machu Picchu was constructed in the traditional Inca style, with clean dry-stone partitions. Its main structures are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. The Intihuatana (Hitching Post of the Sun) is a uniquely preserved ceremonial sundial made up of a large pillar and pedestal carved as a single unit and standing 6 feet (1.8 metres) tall. The Temple of the Sun, also known as the Scared Rock, is built on an inclined rock mass with a tiny grotto; cut stone walls fill in some of the irregularities. The Military Tower, a horseshoe-shaped enclosure, rises above the rock. These are found in what archaeologists call Machu Picchu’s Sacred District. In September 2007, Peru and Yale University made an allegation about the arrival of antiquities that Hiram Bingham had evicted from Machu Picchu in the mid-twentieth century.
Numerous terraced agricultural terraces surround the southern, eastern, and western parts. When Bingham arrived in 1911, several of the terraces were still in use by local Indians. There are walkways and hundreds of stairs made of stone blocks and footholds carved into the underlying rock that connect the plazas, residential areas, terraces, cemetery, and main structures. Few of Machu Picchu’s white granite structures have stonework as highly refined as that found in Cuzco. The Inca Palace has rooms with niched walls and a patio. Another road leads from Machu Picchu to the famous Inca Bridge, a rope bridge that spans the Urubamba River. Machu Picchu is simply the most fully excavated of several other collapsed civilisations in the region, notably the one on the gloomy peak of Huayna Picchu, which is reached via a long, steep stairway and trail.
The exceptional state of preservation and the overall arrangement of the ruins are noteworthy. During the peak season, which spans from late May to early September, approximately 2,500 visitors arrive each day. In spite of this significant influx of tourists, the site continues to exude an aura of magnificence and intrigue, making it an essential destination for all travelers to Peru.
