THE WORD OF THIS SITE MEANS OLD PEAK. IT IS AN INCA SITE DATING TO 1400'S IN THE CUSCO REGION OF PERU. IT IS LOCATED 8000' ABOVE SEA LEVEL. IT IS 80 KM NW OF CUSCO WHERE A MAJOR RIVER, URUBAMBA RIVER FLOWS. MOST ARCHAEOLOGISTS BELIEVE THAT MACHU PICHU WAS BUILT AS AN ESTATE FOR PACHACUTI! HE RULED FROM 1438 TO 1472.
THE INCAS ABANDONED THE CITY AS AN OFFICIAL SITE FOR THE INCA RULERS, A CENTURY LATER WHEN SPAIN CAME HERE TO RULE.IT HAD BEEN UNKNOWN TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD UNTIL 1911 WHERE AN AMERICAN HISTORIAN HIRAMBINGHAM BROUGHT IT TO INTERNATIONAL ATTENTTION. SINCE THEN IT IS VERY POPULAR THE SITE HAS HAD SOME RECONSTRUCTION.
BY 1976 30% OF THE SITE WAS RESTORED. SPAIN NEVER FOUND IT BY 1983 IT WAS DECLARED A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE. IN 20007 IT WAS VOTED BYONE OF THE 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD. IT AS BUILT WITH POLISHED STONE. WALLS THAT HAD BEEN HAND CUT. I SAW A PBS SPECIAL ON IT. IT HAS SACRED DISTRICT INCLUDING THE HITCHING POST OF THE SUN, THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN, AND THE ROOM OF THE THREE WINDOWS.
THIS SITE IS BELIEVED TO BE VULNERABLE TO THREATS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. THE SITE SUFFERS FROM ACCESS BY TOO MANY TOURISTS AND POSSIBLEY EARTHQUAKES. ALSO PRESERVATION OF ITS CULTURAL FEATURES AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE IS ONGOING. BY EARLY 1900'S SOME ARCHAEOLOGISTREMOVED SOME ARTIFACTS THAT WAS DISPUTED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PERU. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT MOST OF ITS INHABITANTS DIED FROM SMALL POX. NONE OF THE SACRED ROCKS WERE TOUCHED BY SPANISH. AN ARCHAEOLOGIST BELIEVES IT WAS THE BIRTHPLACE OF VIRGINS OF THE SUN. ANOTHER PERSON BELIEVES IT WAS SELECTED DUE TO ITS LANDSCAPE FEATURES AND MOUNTAINS. SOME OF ITS LANDSCAPE ARE IN ALIGNMENT WITH KEY ASTRONOMICAL FEATURES IMPORTANT TO THE INCAS. EVEN PREVIOUS TO THE INCA THE GEOGRAPHY WAS SACRED TO OLDER CULTURES. RITUAL OFFERINGS WERE UNDER THE TALL PLATFORMS. THERE ARE VARIOUS THEORIES THAT EXIST TO EXPLAIN WHY THIS CITY WAS BUILT HERE. PERHAPS IT WAS BUILT AS A PRISON.
THE PLATFORMS DEFINITELY HAD A RELIGIOUS FUNCTION AS THEY FOUND RITUAL OFFERINGS BURIED UNDERNEATH THEM. OR DIFFERENT TYPES OF CROPS COULD BE TESTED IN THE MANY DIFFERENT MICROCLIMATES AFFORDED BY THE LOCATION AND THE TERRACES.
THE TERRACES MAY HAVE BEEN TEST SITES FOR CROPS TO GROW ON A LARGE SCALE. A JUNGLE OVER TOOK THIS CITY ONCE IT WAS ABANDONED. IN 1911 WHEN IT WAS STUDIED BY A YALE LECTURER, SOME QUECHAS LIVED HERE. BINGHAM FOUND LOCAL INTELLECTUALS OPPOSED HIS OPPERATION AND THE LOCALS DEMANDED PAYMENTS TO EXCAVATE HERE. IN 1913 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY HAD AN ENTIRE ISSUE DEVOTED TO MACHU PICHU. THIS SITE IS THE MOST VISITED TOURIST ATTRACTION IN PERU. IT HAS CLIFFS THAT DROP TO 450 M. THIS AREA HAS MISTS FROM MISTS FROM THE RIVER. THE INCA BUILT A ROPE BRIDGE ACROSS THE URUBAMBA RIVER AS A SECRET ENTRANCE FOR THE INCA ARMY.
THE CITY LIES BETWEEN TWO MOUNTAINS AND HAS AN EXCELLENT AMOUNT OF TWO VALLEYS. THEY HAVE WATER FROM SPRINGS THERE THE FOLKS WHO WERE HERE. THE ROADS ARE STEEP. IF THEY SUSPECTED INVADERS, THEY COUL HAVE BLOCKED THEIR OLD ROADS. IT IS SRTRATEGICALLY LOCATED AND READILY DEFENDED. THE SITE HAS A RURAL AND URBAN SECTOR. THEY HAVE WAREHOUSES IN THE SOUTHERN SECTOR.
THE CITY'S ARCHITECTURE IS ADAPTED TO THE NATURAL FORM OF THE MOUNTAINS. ABOUT 200 BUILDINGS ARE ARRANGED ON TERRACES AROUND A LARGE CENTRAL SQUARE. THEY HAVE LONG TERRACES AND HAD SOPHISTICATED IRRIGATION SYSTEMS TO THEIR FIELDS. THEY HAD MANY STAIRWAYS. THE WESTERN SECTION WAS FOR RELIGIOUS AND CEREMONIAL PURPOSES.
THE HITCHING POST OF THE SUN WAS AN INSTRUMENT TO MEASRE THE THE SLOPE WHERE THE SUN LIESIN WINTERAND SUMMER SOLSTICE. THE INCA BELIEVED THE STONE HELD THE SUN IN ITS PLACE ALONG ITS ANNUAL PLACE IN THE SKY.
THE INCA BUILT THIS CITY WITH HANDCUT STONES AND WITHOUT MORTAR. PERU HAS SEISMIC ACTIVITY . IT IS EASY TO MOVE SOME STONES SLIGHTLY WITHOUT COLLAPSINS THE WALLS/ THEY PUT VARIOUS DESIGN DETAILS IN THEIR WALLS. THEY LACKED DRAFT ANIMALS TO HELP MOVE THE STONES. IT IS STILL A MYSTERY HOW THEY PLACED THE BLOCKS. HUNDREDS OF MEN PROBABLY PUSHED THE BLOCKS INTO PLACE.
OVER 10,000 TOURISTS VISITED VISIT THIS SITE PER YEAR. SOME SPEND DAYS HIKING FROM CUSCO TO MACHU PICCHU. THEY HAD LONG DISTANCE TRADE ROUTES AS THEY FOUND NON LOCAL ARTIFACTS AT THE SITE. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY MOVIES FILMED HERE.
WIKIPEDIA.COM
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