Machu Picchu Photos

The Lost City of the Incas

In 1911, Melchor Arteaga, an inn keeper from the nearby village of Aguas calientes led the first foreign tourist to the site that is now known as Machu Picchu.
Hiram Bingham cleverly promoted his discovery and became immortaly famous - while little is known about the Quechuan villagers who knew about it a long time before.

Today, hundreds of thousands visit the Inca ruins every year and there are already concerns that this may endanger the site.

Many theories about the significance of the site have been advanced over time.
It was regarded as an ancient capital, then as the most important Inca temple, or as the last military defence of the Incas.
Today the tendency seems to be to see it just as a "royal retreat" with no special significance.

Personally, I find this more logical than the other explanations as a truly important place would have been discovered earlier, maybe even by the Spanish occupiers?!

Also, there are agricultural terraces, residential areas and graves within the compound.

On the other hand, Machu Picchu, perched on its mountain top, surrounded by other mountains and with a river flowing around it is a true meeting point of the elements - and also very strategically situated.

Will the answer ever be known?

There also are some photos from Peru in my photo-log.