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HISTORY The Incas started building it around AD 1430 but was abandoned as an official site for the Inca rulers a hundred years later at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.
LOCATION OF MACHU PICCHU Machu Picchu is a pre-Columbian Inca site located 2,430 metres (8,000 ft) above sea level.[1] It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometres (50 mil) northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Often referred to as "The Lost City of the Incas", Machu Picchu is one of the most familiar symbols of the Inca Empire.
On July 24, 1911, Machu Picchu was brought to the attention of scholars by Hiram Bingham, an American historian employed as a lecturer at Yale University. Bingham was led up to Machu Picchu by a local 11 year old Quechua boy named Pablito Alvarez. Bingham undertook archaeological studies and completed a survey of the area. Bingham coined the name ''The Lost City of the Incas'', which was the title of his first book.
The central buildings of Machu Picchu use the classical Inca architectural style of polished dry-stone walls of regular shape.
Bingham had been searching for the city of Vilcapampa, the last Inca refuge and spot of resistance during the Spanish conquest of Peru. In 1911, after years of previous trips and explorations around the zone, he was led to the citadel by Quechuans. These people were living in Machu Picchu, in the original Inca infrastructure. Bingham made several more trips and conducted excavations on the site through 1915, carrying off artifacts. He wrote a number of books and articles about the discovery of Machu Picchu in his lifetime.
On July 7, 2007, Machu Picchu was voted as one of New Open World Corporation's New Seven Wonders of the World.
Machu Picchu
According to archaeologists, the urban sector of Machu Picchu was divided into three great districts: the Sacred District, the Popular District to the south, and the District of the Priests and the Nobility.
The site received significant publicity after the National Geographic Society devoted their entire April 1913 issue to Machu Picchu.
TOURISM Machu Picchu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As Peru's most visited tourist attraction and major revenue generator, it is continually threatened by economic and commercial forces. In the late 1990s, the Peruvian government granted concessions to allow the construction of a cable car and development of a luxury hotel, including a tourist complex with boutiques and restaurants. These plans were met with protests from scientists, academics, and the Peruvian public—all worried that the greater numbers of visitors would pose tremendous physical burdens on the ruins.
