Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu (sometimes called "the Lost City of the Incas") is a well preserved Pre-Columbian town located on a high mountain ridge (at an elevation of about 6,750 feet) above the Urubamba valley in modern-day Peru.

It is thought the city was built by the Inca emperor Pachacuti starting in about 1440 and was inhabited until the Spanish Conquest in 1532. Archeological evidence (together with recent work on early colonial documents) shows that it was not a conventional city; rather it was a sort of country retreat town for the Inca Emperor and nobility. The site has a large palace and temples around a couryard, with other dwellings for the support staff. It is estimated that a maximum of only about 750 people resided in Machu Picchu at any one time, and probably only a small fraction of that number during the rainy season and when no nobles were visiting.

The city was re-discovered on July 11, 1911, by a Yale historian, Hiram Bingham, who was exploring old Inca roads in the area. Bingham made several more trips and conducted excavations on the site through 1915. He wrote a number of books and articles about Machu Picchu; his popular account Lost City of the Incas became a best-seller.

In 1913 the site received a significant amount of publicity after the National Geographic Society devoted their entire April 1913 issue to Machu Picchu.

The site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a popular tourist attraction.

One of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda's best-known works is "The Heights of Macchu Picchu", inspired by the city.