Machu Picchu is the most visited tourist attraction in Peru, located 70km northwest of Cusco in the Andes mountains. It was constructed around 1450 at the height of the Inca Empire and abandoned less than 100 years later when the Spanish arrived. Hiram Bingham brought worldwide attention to the "lost city" of Machu Picchu in 1911 after it had been enshrouded by jungle for centuries. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site and Peru's most visited tourist attraction, receiving over 3 million visitors in 2010.

2. by Francisca Alvarez

3. Machu Picchu is the most visited tourist attraction
in Peru. It is 70 kms northwest of Cusco.
Machu Picchu was constructed around 1450, at
the height of the Inca empire, and was abandoned
less than 100 years later, as the empire collapsed
under Spanish conquest.
The presence of numerous temples and ritual
structures indicate that Machu Picchu held
spiritual significance for the Inca.
Over the centuries, the surrounding jungle grew
to enshroud the site, and few knew of its existence.
It wasn’t until 1911 that american historian and
explorer Hiram Bingham brought the “lost” city
to the world’s attention.

4. Machu Picchu stands in the middle of a tropical mountain
forest, in an extraordinarily beautiful setting.
It was an amazing urban creation of Inca Empire at its height;
its giant walls, terraces and ramps seem as if
they have been cut naturally in the continuous rock escarpments.
The natural setting, on the eastern slopes of the
Andes, encompasses the upper Amazon basin
with its rich diversity of flora and fauna.

5. The space is composed of
140 constructions
including
temples, sanctuaries, par
ks and residences, houses
with thatched roofs.

6. Machu Picchu is a UNESCO
World Heritage site.
It is Peru’s most visited
tourist attraction
(3,00000,000 in 2010) and
major revenue generator. A
no-fly zone exists in the area.

7. From the top, at the cliff of
Machu Picchu, is a vertical
precipice of 600 meters
ending at the foot of the
Urubamba River.

8. Machu Picchu is located
about 2,350 meters above sea level.
All visits to Machu Picchu at some point
leave from Cusco, which can be reached via a
domestic flight from Lima, or international
flight from La Paz, in Bolivia.
Many tourists take morning train from Cusco (3.5 hours journey) explore
the ruins for a few hours and return to Cusco in the afternoon. From Puente
Ruinas station buses take tourists up the mountain to Machu Picchu.

9. Thousands of tourists hike the Inca Trail – each year,
a two to four day journey on foot
from the Urubamba valley up through the Andes mountain range.
They require travelers to be reasonably fit. The trip involves sleeping in tents.

10. Bingham and others
hypothesized that the citadel
was the traditional
birthplace of the Inca people
or the spiritual center of the
“virgins of the sun,” while
curators of a recent exhibit
have speculated that Machu
Picchu was a royal retreat.

11. All of the construction in Machu Picchu
uses the classic Inca architectural style
of polished dry-stone walls of regular
shape. The Incas were masters of this
technique, called ashlar, in which blocks
of stone are cut to fit together tightly
without mortar.

12. How they moved and placed enormous
blocks of stones is a mystery, although the
general belief is that they used hundreds of
men to push the stones up inclined planes.

13. Llamas roam
freely over the
entire site.

14. Llamas keep
the grass tidy
and are
capable of
reaching many
spots
inaccessible by
lawnmowers
or sheep.

15. In 1913, the site received
significant publicity after
the National Geographic Society
devoted their entire April issue
to Machu Picchu.

16. The only hotel is the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge.
You pay US$715 (double), a hefty premium
because of the location, location, and location.
Guests of this hotel can enjoy
the magnificent isolation of the sanctuary.