Machu Picchu

On a mountain top in Peru lies one of the world's greatest treasures. Much has been theorized about this dramatically isolated ancient city and the people who inhabited it. Although little is known of the Inca and their sudden disappearance from Machu Picchu. The Spanish conquest is thought to have precipitated the abandonment of this site, but little mention of it can be found in Spanish references, and the site was undisturbed by pillaging and defacing as were other sites known to the invaders.

Machu Picchu was a city built by people who were thought to have failed to realize how to make and use mortar in building construction. In fact, building on this mountaintop, which has a sheer drop almost 1,500 feet to the river below, was actually facilitated by avoiding the use of mortar. This area is highly susceptible to earthquakes, and the use of finely cut stones, fitted together deliberately, made a more secure and lasting construction than would have been the case using highly fracturing mortar compounds. It is alleged that the stones making up these structures are so finely cut and fitted that a blade of grass cannot be inserted between them. These people knew what they were doing.

The site was generally divided between urban and agricultural areas, with widespread terracing of the mountain sides making the growing of crops easy--enough to feed more people than ever inhabited the city. These terraces were engineered to provide irrigation without runoff, which would have threatened avalanches and mudslides. The runoff was filtered into the mountain instead of down the mountain side. Residential housing was divided among lower-class residents, royalty, and those identified as "wise people".

Today tourism is both a boon and a threat, but it remains encouraged. And there is a lot to see. About 200 buildings are arranged on terraced landscape around a central square. Some of the most important structures have been identified as the Sun Gate, through which you will enter the city, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room with Three Windows (which holds the title as least imaginative room name ever).

We recommend taking the Inca Trail to see this treasure, although it’s possible to simply arrive by train.