The Lost City of Machu Picchu is one of the masterpieces of the architecture of inca civilization, now one of the most famous sites of world heritage and the wonders of the world. Today it has become one of the most appreciated destinations on the planet.
The legend of Machu picchu is as important and famous as the other legendary and lost cities as Atlantis in the ocean floor, Agartha in the Earth's hollow, Shambala in the Tibetan Mountains, Dorado in Gold City, and Z in the Amazon jungle.
A snapshot of the lost city of Machu Picchu:
The lost city of Machu Picchu is located at the foot of the famous Andes, a masterpiece created by Inca prowess and architecture.
The tourist city of Machu Picchu offers visitors and tourists abundant landscapes, as well as mysterious myths full of mysticism about their origin and construction.
Experts disagree on why and how they were built at the top of the Andes, which defies each interpretation and leads to different questions as to why they are unusual, including the people who built them and the materials used to build them.
Why there's no defensive wall to the city, who planned to build it neatly in that far-flung place, and why those strange fountains and temples and carnage made of granite.
Questions also arise as to how this ancient civilization was able to create this masterpiece without steel tools or sophisticated building methods and how it stood for centuries.
The answer to these specific questions can be found in the ancient capital of Cuzco where Inca descendants still live.
Every year during the Roman Catholic Corpus Christi Festival statues of the Virgin Mary, along with fifteen other saints from the cathedral, are brought to Zolaco, with real Inca dances and musical instruments.
Over 500 years ago, the Inca people marched through Cuzco, but they carried not statues of saints, but mummies of their kings who honored them as gods. Maybe one of those kings was Pani Machu Picchu.
The meaning of Machu Picchu:
Machu picchu in Quechua means "old mountain," referring to the place where it is located, which is about 2453 metres above sea level.
It consists of an ancient rocky site between Mount Machu Picchu and Mount Huaina Picchu.
In what country is Machu Picchu:
The word Machu Picchu means in Quechua "ancient mountain," a contemporary name given to the Inca town of Quechua, where historians have confirmed that its original name was Lactapata.
The construction of the lost archaeological city Machu Picchu, known as Cloud City, dates back to the 15th century and is located in the Cordillera Oriental of Peru, in the Cuzco region.
The construction area of the site is approximately 530 metres long and 200 metres wide and contains 172 containers for various activities.
Machu Picchu consists of two large, well-defined sectors:
The agricultural sector comprises several agricultural terraces in the southern part.
The urban sector is the home of the Inca rulers and family and where major civic and religious activities have been developed.
These two sectors are separated by a wall and a ditch and a staircase parallel to the eastern slope of the mountain.
The climate dominating this archaeological complex was marked by particularly heavy rains between November and March, alternating with moments of intense sunshine, warmth and humidity by day but cold at nightfall, with temperatures ranging from 12 to 24 degrees.
This archaeological site was declared in 1983 as a list of the cultural heritage of mankind by UNESCO.
It was also ranked in 2007 one of the seven new wonders of the modern world by virtual voting across the planet.
Who built Machu Picchu:
Many historians of the Inca Empire and modern archaeologists agree that the Machu Picchu myth was built during the reign of Inca Pachakutik's greatest ruler and statesman in Tahuantinsu, a name used to refer to the four great regions of the empire in the group.
They also assume that the construction dates back to about the 15th century, according to new results obtained through tests conducted using Carbon 14 or radioactive carbon in installations that allow a time date to be set.
The construction of the lost city of Machu Picchu began when the small Inca people's domain began to expand, a site where a battle could have been fought against chancas, an ethnic group that coexisted in the region and where Inca won, giving power to brave President Pachacotic.
He was the one who built it and expanded Tahuantinsuyo, where he considered Cusco's "builder." This was one of his greatest works.
Machu Picchu's origin is attributed to him, as are the many territorial conquests of the Empire and the evolution of religion and spirituality.
Some current archaeological studies suggest that the lost city of Inca in the Andes range was a sacred place and a royal farm exclusively reserved for Inca aristocracy along with monks and clergy of higher rank.
Its location was strategically chosen, as it was surrounded by deep cliffs and protected from seeing strangers and curious people in a tangled forest that provided protection and privacy for its inhabitants.
The place of construction of the castle was chosen with great care, as the ideal place was intended to be a centre for ceremonies and rituals.
It was certainly a special and sacred place to observe the movement of stars and sun that was one of the gods of Incy civilization.
Access to Machu Picchu Castle was through a single narrow entrance, allowing in the event of sudden attacks the enemy to defend it with a few combatants.
History of Machu Picchu:
The Inca people founded their empire in Cusco between the 15th and 16th centuries, specifically in the year 1200 AD in the Andean region of Peru thanks to the advances made by the Inca Empire.
Historians report that the Incas Empire spanned approximately 3,000 and 800 kilometers, stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the west to the Amazon rainforest in the east.
Its expansion extended from the Ancasmayo River, in Colombia to the north to the Maule River, in Chile to the south. On the southeast side, Tucumán arrived in Argentina.
They achieved all this territorial conquest because, according to various historical sources, Inca was a fierce warrior who subjected dozens of peoples in their quest for power to form one of the largest empires in the world.
To feed their people, they transformed the steep slopes by building agricultural terraces with slopes that allowed them to grow different kinds of products.
One of the most surprising details about the Inca people is that they have ruled for only 100 years. Their empire was destroyed, first by disease, then by civil war, and finally by Spanish invaders.
Inca - era Machu Picchu:
During the Ankh era, the lost city of Machu picchu machu picchu was a very important urban and religious center, which is reflected in majestic buildings of polished stone, including unusual temples such as the Temple of the Sun, Temple of the Moon and Temple of Three Windows.
Within the castle, a series of agricultural terraces were built, thanks to which enough produce was harvested to feed the entire population.
The road network known as the Inca Road, built at the time, allowed the connection between Machu Picchu and nearby cities, thus also facilitating trade with the rest of the Empire.
Colonial period:
The castle had only a century of productive life, given the fact that a strong civil battle began between the Huáscar and Atahualpa brothers, relatives of Pachacotic, which marked the end of the Inca Empire.
In the context of conflicts and civil wars between the population and the Inca people, the Spanish invaders arrived when they learned of the treasures in Machu Picchu, and entered into a fierce war with the local population that ended in the victory of the Spanish with their firearms and sophisticated rifles.
Post-colonial Inca people:
Peru gained independence in 1821 from Spanish rule, while the people of Machu Picchu continued to work only in agricultural activity by the few peasants who remained on those lands.
Major landowners were also not interested in the harsh Machu Picchu region. The Italian natural scholar Antonio Remondi sought access to the city in 1865, but only managed to advance to the foot of the mountain.
Soon after, German businessman Augusto Burns gained access to the castle in 1867, with the permission of the Peruvian government and was able to market some of its hidden wealth.
This information is supported by the findings of American researcher Paolo Greer. A few years later, in 1870, the first maps were made of this entire Peruvian region, which mentioned the existence of Machu Picchu.
Who discovered Machu Picchu
The date July 1911 in Inca history is recorded as the time when American researcher and explorer Hiram Bingham rediscovered the lost city of Machu Picchu, nearly 350 years after the Spanish destroyed the area.
The Bingham explorer, who was able to reach the city with his camera, was always interested in rediscovering the so-called "lost city of Vilkapamba," another Inca emperor's refuge. However, the explorer arrived without knowing the exact existence of Machu Picchu.
At the time of his discovery of the Lost City, Bingham's famous photographs were the focus of attention from all the world media, and today the photos are part of a 23 - volume explorer album detailing the discovery.
According to historians, Bingham was informed of Agustín Lizárraga's discoveries, which allowed him access to the city with the help of local residents.
An archaeological search was then carried out, in which a variety of objects, ceramics, tools, sculptures, clothing, mummies, and other antique pots were acquired.
There were a total of 46,332 items sent to Yale University in the United States between 1911 and 1916.
Later, between 1924 and 1928, thanks to the photographic work of Peruvian photographers Martín Chambi and Juan Manuel Figueroa, Macho Piccho's photographs were published in Peruvian magazines, raising Peruvian interest in the new city of Inca.
Machu Picchu brings to the world's attention:
Thanks to the creation of various access routes such as roads and railways since the second half of the 20th century, Machu Picchu could be opened to visitors and tourists from different countries around the world.
Tourism interest in the site has increased considerably, however, and there has been no significant effort by the Peruvian government to develop a plan to preserve valuable monuments and artifacts.
It was only in 1970 when project design began to properly investigate Machu Picchu, while tourist interest for visitors from around the planet was growing, that they were interested in learning about the lost city dominated by temples and sanctuaries.
The most visited places in the city are the Temple of the Three Windows, the Condor Group with its carved floor and stone wings, the Temple of the Sun, built on a rock lit at the solar solstice, and at the highest point the Intiwatana.
Excavations are being carried out today at the site and in the lower areas of Machu Picchu, allowing us to discover and uncover evidence of many mysteries still surrounded by the hard walls of this architectural work.
The historic castle began to receive various types of confessions and names such as Peru's historical reserve in 1981, UNESCO's cultural heritage in 1983 and a wonder of the modern world in 2007.
Currently, approximately 1.5 million visitors each year arrive in Machu Picchu and thanks to daily repairs, the city of Inca has been removed from the UNESCO World Heritage List at risk.
How the city was built:
The quality of construction used in each building indicates that the castle was built as a royal city.
Archaeologists estimate that due to the dimensions of the buildings and rocks used, in addition to being finely carved, it took Machu Picchu at least 50 years to build the lost city.
Since the Inca Empire lasted only 100 years, scholars of the castle or city focused on the fact that Albany must be one of the first kings to carry out this project.
Spanish Jesuit novels called Barnaby Cobo refer to a dynamic leader who founded the Incas Empire and was a king named Pachacotek, but no one at the time could prove that he was the one who built Machu Picchu.
It was he who began the expansion out of the Kozko region and brought the Empire to many previously invaded areas, where this king was compared to the Greek emperor Alexander the Great.
What is known about Pachacotic's history is partly due to Father Cobo, who arrived in Peru after the opening in the late 16th century and wrote his novel based on interviews with descendants of the Inca people.
According to Father Cobo, Pachacotek was a famous builder. After expanding his empire with many vast provinces, this king devoted himself for the rest of his life to building magnificent temples, palaces and forts.
Fifteen years of hydrology and engineering studies reveal how the Inca people do this work and build the city in the sky above the cloud.
The intelligence and skill of Inca engineers:
They had a very steep problem with the terrain, but the greatest difficulty was the abundance of heavy rains falling much on Machu Picchu annually, which often caused landslides.
Another element to consider is that the site has two seismic faults, making it a terrible place to build a stone city. However, the site has two features: Also, there's a quarry nearby.
When Inca engineers started building it, the first step was to strengthen the mountain, so they built a fort of terraces.
In this regard, scientists point out that hundreds of new terraces have been discovered that were hidden as they descended from where the city is along the hills.
On average, there is talk of about 1900 mm of rain per year, which if ignored would have formed mud on the slopes and Machu Picchu collapsed.
The Inca avoided it by creating a drainage system within the terraces. Archaeologists first found a layer of protective cover, below which was a layer of sand and finally gravel and larger stones.
In fact, what Inca has done is build an underground drainage system with a kind of channel that transports water out of the city. It was basically huge, spanning about ten feet below the surface and spanning several acres.
Indian Inca engineers spent 50 to 60 percent of their total underground effort with foundations and fossils to make sure Machu Picchu continued. Although the city looks vast, it's further below it with a system that supports it.
While the Inca made great efforts to dispose of rainwater, they also built 16 fountains to take advantage of the water from nearby natural springs that are fully potable.
As for the architectural effects of the castle, different theories have been raised. For some, architecture is consistent with the style of pre-Inca times, while others prefer the option of being a reliable example of the architectural progress of the Inca dynasty.