Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu Facts Page

Often referred to as "The Lost City of the Incas", Machu Picchu is the most known symbol of the Inca Empire. Roughly translated from Quechua, the language of the Inca, Machu Picchu means “ Old Mountain Peak.”

Probably one of the most significant features of Machu Picchu history is the architecture. Like the pyramids of Egypt, it was created using massive stones hauled over great distances. However, unlike the Egyptians, the Incas didn’t use any kind of mortar to bind their stones together. Instead they cut the stones with such precision that they fit together so tightly that you couldn’t even fit a thin knife blade between them.

Machu Picchu is called the “lost city” because the jungle had literally swallowed it when Yale explorer Hiram Bingham III “rediscovered” it in 1911. When the overgrown vegetation was removed, the complex of ruins was revealed.

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.

Machu Picchu is divided in 2 areas, the urban sector and the agriculture sector. The second one is a vast network of terraces and channels for the irrigation. The urban sector is divided in 2 neighborhoods, the upper and lower. In the upper one there are many temples, ritual chambers and also the royal bedroom. In the lower one there are many houses for the noblemen and their servants. Between both neighborhoods is a big plaza for ceremonies.

The facts Machu Picchu uncovered are so amazing that on July 7, 2007 it was named one of the new seven wonders of the world joining other wonders such as the Great Wall of China.

The fauna in the reserve include the spectacles bear, cock-of-the-rocks or “tunqui”, tankas, wildcats and an impressive variety of butterflies and insects unique in the region.

Machu Picchu Links

Peruvian Embassy

CDC Health Infromation

Weather for Cusco, Peru

Travel Insurance