2. MACHU PICCHU
The Inca civilization began from a small tribe near Cuzco, Peru in the
12th century. In 1460, an Inca leader built the site of Machu Picchu
about 8,000 feet up in the mountains. The Inca lived there for about a
hundred years, and then abandoned the area when the Spanish troops
invaded Inca territories in the 15th century.
The site of Machu Picchu remained hidden in the mountains for many
years. In 1911, a Yale professor discovered it, and started bringing
worldwide attention to the ruins. Today , Machu Picchu is known all
over the world and is one of Peru’s most visited tourist attractions.
3. THE INCA
The Inca were known for their architecture and engineering skills. They
created a road system of two main roads that were both over 2,500
miles long. They also designed a method of “terrace farming,” where
they made many small step-like platforms cut into the mountain slope.
All the farms and houses in a village even had fresh running water from
a central source in town, by using pipes.
4. PERIOD INCAICA
Until is set the imposing Citadel of Machu Picchu, mountains for
Picchu was inhabited by populations coming from regions of
Vilcabamba and the Sacred Valley, seeking to expand its agricultural
borders. After the expansion of the Inca Dominion, these lands became
part of the then-growing empire of Tahuantinsuyo.
Historians agree that Machu Picchu was built in the middle of the 15th
century under the orders of the Emperor Pachacútec, responsible for
the expansion of the domino Inca and its transformation from a simple
Manor to the magnificent Empire which today we know that it was.
5. LOCATION
The inca city of Machu Picchu is 112.5 km. to the
northeast of the city of Cusco, over 2,350 meters of
altitude, within the Archaeological Park of Machu
Picchu, which comprises an extensive territory of the
province of Urubamba, Department of Cusco.
It is located on the eastern slope of the Vilcabamba
mountain range, mountain range bordering the
Apurímac and Urubamba rivers.
