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Machu
Picchu, sacred city of the
Incas, is accessible by
train from Cuzco, or via a
trek along the Inca Trail,
in Peru. The "city" was
never discovered by the
Spanish conquistadores and
remained lost for centuries.
Machu Picchu is an
architectural jewel. The
Beauty and Mystery of it's
walled ruins, once palaces
of the finest Inca stone
work, are augmented even
more by the lush, almost
virginal landscape of the
surroundings.Green jungle
flora suffuses the abrupt
topography. Orchids add a
strange brilliance.
The ruins blend harmoniously
amid the narrow and uneven
topography. One thousand,
three hundred feet below,
snakes the Urubamba Canyon
and its roaring river.
Machu Picchu sits nearly
8,000 feet above sea level,
on top of a ridge between
two peaks of different size.
The smaller peak, called the
"Huayna Picchu", is the one
most often seen in
photographs of the ruins.
With the passing of the
centuries, the ruins'
original name has been
forgotten.The name "Machu
Picchu" comes simply from
its geography. It literally
means "old peak", just as "Huayna
Picchu" is "young peak". The
more accurate translation
relates, however, to the
concept of size, with Machu
Picchu as the " bigger peak"
and Huayna
Picchu,the"smaller peak".
With its discovery in 1911,
Machu Picchu made its debut
as an authentic
archeological enigma. Its
purpose continues to
intrigue, with mysteries
that perhaps will never
fully be unraveled.
It was Hiram Bingham who, in
charge of a Yale University
expedition, discovered Machu
Picchu on July 24, 1911.
Bingham's goal had actually
been to locate the legendary
Vilcabamba which was the
capital of the governing
Inca's descendants. They
resisted the Spanish
invaders and used Vilcabamba
as a fortification between
1536 and 1572.
But on penetrating the
Urabamba Canyon, in the
desolate site of Mandorbamba,
Bingham's expedition learned
from a peasant named Melchor
Arteaga that the hill Mahcu
Picchu, at the top, held
important ruins. To reach
them meant ascending a steep
slope covered with dense
vegetation. Even though
skeptical- the expedition
was familiar with the many
myths about "lost cities"-Bingham
insisted on being guided to
the spot. Once there, a
child from one of the two
families that lived there,
led him to imposing
archeological structures
covered by tropical
vegetation and abandoned
centuries ago.
As an astonished Bingham
noted in his diary: "Would
anyone believe what I have
found?..."
How did this center of Inca
culture hide itself in the
mountain jungle? From our
knowledge of Greek, Egyptian
and other early
civilizations with written
records, it is hard to
understand how such a
fantastic site could have
been hidden from the Spanish.
Yet until its discovery in
the 1911, Machu Picchu, "the
lost city of the Incas",
remained forgotten for 400
years.
Actually, Machu Picchu is
not a city at all. It was
built by Pachacuti Inca as a
royal estate and religious
retreat in 1460-70. Its
location -- on a remote
secondary road in nearly
impassable terrain high
above the Urubamba River
canyon cloud forest --
ensured that it would have
no administrative,
commercial or military use.
Any movement in that
direction to or from Cusco
and the Sacred valley
upriver would have been by
other Inca roads, either the
high road near Salcantay or
by the Lucumayo valley road.
Travel was restricted on
these roads except by Inca
decree.
After Pachacutec Inca's
death, Machu Picchu remained
the property of his kinship
group, who were responsible
for maintenance,
administration and continued
building. As an
extraordinary sacred site (location
as well as buildings), it
was visited by Topa Inca and
the last great ruler, Huayna
Capac, although each in turn
built their own estates and
palaces. Few outside the
Inca's retainers knew of its
existence. |
