Machu Picchu

Cusco Region

This Inca village is one of the main attractions of Peru and delights many travelers each year. It is also considered to be a top archeological attraction in all South America.

This place dates from the XV century and reamained hidden for almost four centuries until 1911 when the historian Hiram Bingham discovered it, being guided by local villagers. The real name of it is unknown and it is also unknown why it was abandoned in the XVI century or why the Inca people built this legendary city, but it is thought to be a sacred place from ancient times.

It is located in the Cusco region and to get here you need to travel to Aguas Calientes by train. This is a small city located at the altitude of 2040 m where you can find some nice places to stay and it is also the place where you can take the bus up to Machu Picchu.

Surrounded by agricultural terraces and irrigated by natural springs, it is not easily discoverable. The building structures have been dug in the granite of the mountain and are very well conservated, being a real architectural wonder. The bricks used for construction are massive, some of them having about 50 tons or even more.

Machu Picchu seems to have been used by Inca people as a secret ceremonial place, even though few things are known exactly about the social or religious behaviour of those people.