Machu Picchu, Man-made Wonder

Hi! I’m Bogdan and I’d like to invite you to Peru and share some amazing facts about Machu Picchu City in Heaven.

Machu Picchu is the city of the Incas, located in the Andes at an altitude of 2,400 meters on the top of the mountain range above the Urubamba valley in Peru, 80 kilometers north-east of the city of Cusco.

Machu Picchu is also called “a city in heaven“,  “a city among the clouds”, “a lost city of the Incas”, is a symbol of the Inca Empire.

It is supposed that the city was created as a sacred mountain shelter by the great ruler of the Incas of Pachacutek for centuries before the conquest of his empire, that is, approximately in 1440, and functioned until 1532, when the Spaniards entered the territory of the empire, after which the city was abandoned by its inhabitants.

For more than 400 years, the city was forgotten and was in desolation, but already in 1911 it again received a worldwide record. It was discovered by an American researcher from Yale University, Professor Hiram Bingham, on July 24, 1911.

Machu Picchu: sacred Intihuatana stone

Interesting facts about Machu Picchu City in Heaven

  • Unfortunately, most cities built by the Inca civilization were destroyed by the Spanish conquest. Machu Picchu was in a hidden location—invisible from below—and not found, making it one of the most well-preserved Inca cities and an archeological gem.
  • Machu Picchu was an astronomical observatory, and its sacred Intihuatana stone accurately indicates the two equinoxes. Twice a year, the sun sits directly over the stone creating no shadow.
  • The Incas were some of the best masons in the world. The structures were so well built with a technique called ashlar (stones that are cut to fit together without mortar) that not even a knife blade can fit in between stones.
  • Many different theories exist about Machu Picchu’s purpose — a royal estate and a secret ceremonial center among them.
  • Although many of the stones that were used to build the city were more than 50 pounds, it is believed that no wheels were used to transport these rocks up the mountain. Rather, it is thought that hundreds of men pushed the heavy rocks up the steep mountain side.
  • Machu Picchu is made up of more than 150 buildings ranging from baths and houses to temples and sanctuaries.