Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is the greatest relic of the ancient Inca civilization. It is a town built high in the Andes mountains of Peru. It sits 7,875 feet (2,400 meters) above sea level. And the town is located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Cuzco. (Cuzco was the Inca empire’s capital.)

The Site

The Inca began building Machu Picchu in the mid-1400s. For a long time no one knew for sure who built it. But today most experts think it was the work of the Inca ruler Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui. The site is believed to have served as a royal retreat.

The most striking feature of Machu Picchu is its architecture. It has about 200 structures, most made of granite. The Inca builders fitted the stones tightly together. In fact, they are so tight that no mortar was needed.

There are several different types of buildings at Machu Picchu. Among them are temples, storage facilities, and houses. A number of the houses are clustered in small groups around central courtyards. Others are set in rows on terraces. Some are two stories tall. The terraces are made of raised banks of dirt. They look like big stairs.

One of the most famous objects at Machu Picchu is a carved stone pillar. It is called Intihuatana, or the “hitching post of the Sun.” Archaeologists believe it was sacred. It was most important to the Inca at the time of the winter solstice. (This is when the Sun is in the sky for the least amount of time.) At that time, a priest would conduct a special ceremony. In this ceremony, he would “tie” the Sun to this post to prevent it from disappearing.

The structures at Machu Picchu are surrounded by large agricultural terraces. These make it look as though the town was carved out of the mountainside. Extensive channels were constructed to carry water to the crops. These included maize (corn) and potatoes.

The Town’s Fate

Evidence shows that the Inca did not occupy Machu Picchu for very long. They abandoned it about 100 years after they built it. The exact reasons are uncertain. But most historians think that the inhabitants were wiped out by smallpox. (The Spanish had introduced the disease to Mexico. It had spread southward into Peru and ravaged the Inca.) The Spanish conquerors never knew about Machu Picchu. So they did not destroy it, as they did other Inca cities. Instead, the town eventually became covered by dense jungle. It remained hidden for hundreds of years.

For a long time it was believed that the first modern person to find Machu Picchu was the American archaeologist Hiram Bingham. He found it in 1911. He was searching for another Inca city, Vilcabamba. But new research has pointed to another man, Augusto Berns. This German adventurer may have found the site in 1867 and taken many valuable artifacts. It is also believed that some local people knew about the site.

Machu Picchu Today

During the 1900s, Machu Picchu became very popular with tourists. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. (UNESCO means United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.) And as many as 400,000 visited the site in 2003. However, the Peruvian government fears that erosion is slowly damaging the town. Scientists have studied land movements in the area. In 2001 they warned that the steep rear slope of the site was unstable. It was sliding downward at a rate of about 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) per month, they said. This raised concerns that Machu Picchu could one day be destroyed by a landslide. In April 2004 mudslides killed at least one person at the site. And part of the rail line that carries visitors to and from the town was damaged. In 2007, a new bridge was built to the site. But some people feared more tourists could damage the ruins.