This ancient Inca city is one of Peru's most precious treasures. It was built in the mid-15th century and is believed to have been one of the residences of the ninth Inca of Tahuantinsuyu, Pachacútec, although it also contains the remains of a sanctuary. Its name means old mountain, and refers to the place where it is located, at an altitude of about 2,453 meters, on a rocky promontory between the hills of Huchuy Picchu and Huayna Picchu.
Today, this Inca jewel is one of the country's tourist attractions. Travelers come to Aguas Calientes to begin the Inca trail that Hiram Bingham, the Yale professor, popularized at the beginning of the 20th century. The historic sanctuary of Machu Picchu is considered one of the seven new wonders of the modern world and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983.
If you have the opportunity to visit a place like this, it is important to have a guide so you don't miss anything. According to the latest research, the place could have been a temporary royal residence, and there are almost 200 buildings in the place, where llamas welcome you. From Machu Picchu you can also enjoy magnificent views of the Vilcabamba mountain range, the Urubamba River canyon and the Putucusi hill. Legends, places of worship, pyramids, sacred stones and history are some of the wonders to be discovered in this mysterious wonder of the world.
The road between Cusco and Machu Picchu is one of the busiest in all of South America due to its great appeal. From the ancient capital of the Inca Empire, the route begins that crosses small colorful towns that welcome you to the Sacred Valley. Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Chinchero are some of them, with their markets and ruins that fascinate any visitor. From there you can visit the Moray cultivation terraces, and walk the 43-kilometre long Inca Trail, which runs from the town of Chillca to Machu Picchu.
But it's not all about walking, and without a doubt good accommodation on this intense journey is important, especially if it also takes care of the environment. This is the case of Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo, a pioneer in ecotourism, which occupies five hectares between the Andes mountain range and the jungle, which recovers the cloud forest once destroyed by tea and coffee plantations. The private adobe villas are spread out among the local fauna and flora, where it is possible to eat and drink Peru and feel its spirituality.
Research conducted in the area that includes the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu found ceramic pieces belonging to the Marcavalle culture, which dates back to 3,000 years before Christ.
However, the findings are scarce compared to those found in other regions of the Cusco Valley. Therefore, it is concluded that in the area that currently includes Machu Picchu, Vitcos and Vilcabamba, isolated families settled with practices common to the Marcavalle, the Killke and other cultures that preceded the Incas.
Furthermore, with the recent discovery in 2011 of a Wari tomb (a civilization that existed 1 century before the Incas) in Vilcabamba; it can be assumed that they also managed to inhabit the Amazonian regions, including Machu Picchu.
The truth is that the Machu Picchu region was inhabited by few people in times before the Incas. With the construction of the Inca City, the settlement of this area of ??the mountainous jungle was ordered.
Who were the Incas? The Incas were one of the cultures and ancient civilizations that developed in a large territory of Peru and part of South America. They achieved various techniques and forged their social development from a government very similar to the imperialist one, but with two divided powers where religion and administration had to go hand in hand. Below, we leave you some data about the Incas:
They claim to have a legendary origin. There are many chroniclers who collected Andean and Inca mythology. In this case, the rulers came to have a divine rank after consolidating themselves as Inca. Upon receiving this title, they were considered children of the sun and descendants of the first son of the Sun, Manco Capac, who came out of Lake Titicaca or Cerro Tamputocco at the wishes of the Sun.
They were excellent road builders. They built the most extensive road network in the entire continent and at the time. It is believed that the roads measured between 40,000 and 60,000 kilometers through the Andes, the coast and part of the high and low jungle.
They had advanced architecture. They achieved a precision that still surprises. The best of all is that some constructions do not require mortar or grout. They are joined by their weight and the precision of the carving together with some metal fittings.
They had an excellent agricultural system. They developed the terraces to prevent the rivers from overflowing and to make better use of the abundant rains of the region where they developed. The main product to be planted was corn.
They created excellent hydraulic engineering. They were able to understand natural water currents and similar in inexplicable ways. They conducted these waters through their main citadels practically without altering their course. That is, they used underground water channels, snowmelt and even rain. It is said that they even managed to store water spaces.
Before Machu Picchu was built, this area was inhabited by surrounding populations such as the ayllus of Vilcabamba and the Sacred Valley of the Incas. However, after the expansion of the Inca empire, these territories became part of the growing empire of Tahuantinsuyu.
According to research carried out with carbon 14 testing, the date of construction of Machu Picchu was 1450 A.D. In that year, the Inca Pachacutec, the main person responsible for the Inca expansion, governed. However, the work would have continued with his successor and son Túpac Yupanqui.
According to field studies, it is believed that the labor force for the cultivation in the Inca City would have been made up of people from different parts of the empire (called 'mitimaes').
It is presumed that the first inhabitants of the new Inca City were the 'Chachapoyas', a people conquered by the Incas and whose origin is located in the mountainous jungle in northern Peru.
As well as Machu Picchu, the Incas expanded their territories throughout the Urubamba River valley, managing to erect important administrative centers such as Choquequirao, Vitcos, Vilcabamba and more.
For a long time, it was believed that the Incas only managed to establish themselves in the high jungle, as in the case of Machu Picchu and other Inca constructions that border precisely between the Andes and the high jungle.
However, in recent years, several indications have been found that the Incas and even much older cultures already had contact with populations from the Amazon.
This can be found in several findings that show products that could only be found in that place. If it was only a trade or something similar, it is very important that contact was already made with the ancient tribes of the Peruvian Amazon.
Another important point that supports this hypothesis is that cobblestone roads and even some Inca sculptures can be found in the depths of the jungle.
Nothing is clear yet regarding these new findings, but more and more knots are being tied that will tell us about the history of the ancient peoples of Peru, as if it were a quipu.
During the Inca period, Machu Picchu was an important urban and religious center. This is demonstrated by its fine polished stone constructions, where its beautiful temples stand out: the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Moon, the Temple of the 3 Windows and more.
It is believed that Machu Picchu had between 300 and 1,000 inhabitants during its period of splendor.
The majority of the population of Machu Picchu was dedicated mainly to agriculture. In addition, a small part of the nobility was dedicated to religious rites.
To feed the entire population of Machu Picchu, the Incas built terraces within the Inca City (agricultural sector) as well as in the surrounding areas (in the current archaeological sites of Patallacta and Qentemarca).
The Qhapac Ñan road network built to connect Machu Picchu with the surrounding towns favoured trade with the rest of the empire. However, after the death of Pachacutec and the construction of other citadels and roads, Machu Picchu lost importance.
At first it was believed that Machu Picchu was built to serve as a military fortress and even as a holiday residence for the Inca Pachacutec and his family.
However, exhaustive studies carried out by some of the best specialists have revealed that the Inca City was used as a place of worship and a religious sanctuary.
Certainly, the interest of the Inca Pachacutec in building Machu Picchu in an exuberant geography responds to the fact that he was amazed by the place. In addition, the strategic location in the mountainous jungle served as a checkpoint of the empire with the Antisuyo (limits of the empire with the jungle).
According to research by Spanish historian María del Carmen Rubio, the real name of Machu Picchu was ‘Patallacta’. This is precisely the name of the place where the Inca Pachacutec wanted to be buried. However, his tomb has not yet been discovered.
The Inca city of Machu Picchu was barely a century old. At a time when a bloody civil war was taking place between Huáscar and Atahualpa, members of the royal family of the Inca Pachacutec (who died 50 years earlier) abandoned the place.
In 1572, the empire would end up being destroyed (after the end of the rebel Incas of Vilcabamba). The inhabitants were left to their own devices. Due to the lack of communication between the Inca city and Cusco, they eventually decided to gradually abandon Machu Picchu and the dense vegetation infested the place.
The Spanish invaders knew of the existence of Machu Picchu. Documents mention that the few farmers who lived there had to pay tribute once a year in the town of Ollantaytambo to Hernando Pizarro and the successive encomenderos.
However, the Spanish invaders did not usually visit Machu Picchu. This was probably due to the steepness of the road and the low economic importance that the tributes from the Inca City represented for them. Thus, unlike other important citadels in Cusco, they did not build any religious temple in its vicinity.
Over time, most of the urban sector in Machu Picchu was covered by wild vegetation.
In 1821, Peru gained independence from the Spanish colony. Machu Picchu continued to serve an agricultural function for the few peasants who inhabited those lands.
The landowners also showed no interest in cultivating the wild lands of Machu Picchu. Instead, their estates attracted settlers from remote areas such as the few families who lived in the area that includes the Inca City.
In 1865, the Italian naturalist Antonio Raimondi arrived at the foot of Machu Picchu without managing to visit the Inca City.
According to the American researcher Paolo Greer, in 1867 the German businessman ‘Augusto Berns’ arrived at the Inca City with the permission of the Peruvian government. Thus, he was able to market some of the treasures hidden in Machu Picchu.
In 1870, the first maps were made in which the existence of Machu Picchu is mentioned. In 1880, the famous explorer Charles Wiener stated that there was an archaeological site in the area. However, he was unable to reach it.
Meanwhile, the inhabitants of the region, who lived for many years with the existence of an Inca archaeological site in the area, regularly visited the Inca City. This is attested by the graffiti left on an Inca wall by the inhabitants of Cusco in 1902: Agustín Lizárraga, Gabino Sánchez, Enrique Palma and Justo Ochoa.
In 1911, the American explorer Hiram Bingham arrived at Machu Picchu interested in discovering the ‘lost city of Vilcabamba’. Thus, informed about the findings of Agustín Lizárraga, he arrived at the Inca City with the help of the local inhabitants.
Hiram Bingham would find two families established south of the ruins: the Recharte and the Álvarez. Finally, a child (son of the Recharte family) would guide the American explorer through the thick vegetation until arriving at the archaeological site.
Hiram Bingham immediately understood the enormous historical value of his discovery, so he requested the sponsorship of Yale University in the United States as well as the support of the National Geographic Society and the Government of Peru.
In this way, the studies of the Inca archaeological site began. The excavation work at Machu Picchu was carried out from 1912 and lasted 3 years. During this period, the weeds that infested the Inca city were cleared.
In total, Hiram Bingham made three expeditions to Machu Picchu between 1911 and 1915. During that time he managed to excavate, photograph and publish information about the Inca City.
Although Hiram Bingham arrived at Machu Picchu and made its importance known, he cannot be credited as the ‘discoverer’ of the Inca City. It was already known by the local population and was never forgotten as is believed. In reality, the American explorer should be recognized as the ‘scientific discoverer’ of Machu Picchu.
