The ruins of the city are perched on top of a mountain in the Andean chain of Peru, at an altitude of 3,100 meters. Three thousand steps make up the numerous steps that link the different planes on which the city is built, whose ruins, suspended over the abyss, surprise visitors with their picturesque monuments and the perfect execution of the whole, which the passage of centuries has barely deteriorated if not to add a more unreal and mysterious character.
The ruins constitute a valuable architectural document of the primitive Inca culture. In an extension of only 400x200 meters, a division is observed in several districts: the one of the dependencies of the Inca chief, the one destined to the religious functions, the one of the craftsmen, the one of the intellectuals and the one of the town. But fundamentally the city is divided in low and high, in which correspondingly lived the poor classes and the rich ones. Cultivable terraces surround Machu Picchu, located at the edge of cliffs. The palaces, the temple and its staircase, the tower, the observatory, bridges, porticoes, the watchman's house and the numerous private houses can be seen from their own ruins, forming a harmonious whole in which each element has its practical purpose. It is a dead and beautiful city, of a strong and sober style.
The ruins were discovered in 1911 by the American archaeologist Hiram Bingham. The Indians knew of the existence of Machu Picchu, but kept the secret for centuries, until a mestizo unveiled it by guiding Bingham to the mysterious city. What was the reason for such a secret? It is unknown. As many other things about Machu Picchu are unknown: the city seems to have been abandoned at any given time by its inhabitants and yet there is no sign of a natural cataclysm to justify it. It is not known, then, why its inhabitants left it, in the same way that it is not known what reason led them to build it up there, nor who built it so perfectly. Its foundation is attributed to Manco Capac, creator of the Inca Empire, son of the sun god; but the fact is one more in a history made almost all of legend, as is the Inca Empire.
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| Machu Picchu |
The ruins were discovered in 1911 by the American archaeologist Hiram Bingham. The Indians knew of the existence of Machu Picchu, but kept the secret for centuries, until a mestizo unveiled it by guiding Bingham to the mysterious city. What was the reason for such a secret? It is unknown. As many other things about Machu Picchu are unknown: the city seems to have been abandoned at any given time by its inhabitants and yet there is no sign of a natural cataclysm to justify it. It is not known, then, why its inhabitants left it, in the same way that it is not known what reason led them to build it up there, nor who built it so perfectly. Its foundation is attributed to Manco Capac, creator of the Inca Empire, son of the sun god; but the fact is one more in a history made almost all of legend, as is the Inca Empire.
