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.