Lost City Of The Incas

Machu Picchu is a pre-Columbian Inca site in Peru, situated in a mountain ridge above Urumba. Known as "The Lost City of the Incas," this site has incredible spiritual and mythological symbolism, dating back to ancient Inca civilization. For centuries, tourists have embarked on the Inca trail trek to reach this historical wonder, and have felt the long history and spiritualism of the site.

The Incas began building Machu Picchu in 1430, but it remained relatively unknown for nearly 5 centuries. It was not until 1911 that international attention was brought to this cultural goldmine, when a US historian, Hiram Bigham discovered the Inca trail to Machu Picchu and wrote about it in his published works.

Bingham started his first expedition to identify lost Inca capitals. While asking people about those cities, he came across a prospector who said there were numerous ruins around Urubamba valley and Huayna Picchu. Since the new government road passed very close to Huayna Picchu, they moved along that way. When they reach closer to Huayna Picchu, they camped one night on Mandor Pampa. That night one person named Melchor Arteaga came into their camp and introduced himself as owner of the area. He said that there were ruins across the river, on top of the mountain Huayna Picchu. He agreed to lead the party towards the ruins, in exchange of fifty cents a day. Next morning they followed him and found the ruins on the ridge called Machu Picchu. Since this ruins had no name, according to the name of the mountain, Hiram Bingham and others started to call it Machu Picchu. Bingham tried to identify this city and mistakenly thought it was the last Incan capital Vilcabamba la vieza.

Bingham actually found Vitcos and even Vilcabamba, which is presently known as Espiritu Pampa, but he did not realize that Espiritu Pampa is Vilcabamba. Bingham died thinking that Machu Picchu was the Vilcabamba he had searched for.Today, Machu Picchu and the Inca trail are very well known, and the ancient city has been deemed a UNESCO world heritage site, and it has been labeled one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. It has three well known buildings: Intihuatana, Temple of the Sun, and Room of Three Windows.
Historians and archaeologists believe that when the Spaniards were making their conquest of all of the Inca tribes, this Lost City of the Incas was already a ghost town. Perhaps some disease killed its inhabitants, leaving only a few people to live and procreate.

What historians and archaeologists cannot figure out is what the purpose of the city was. Was Machu Picchu an estate of a great Incan emperor? Perhaps it was a defensive stronghold or a prison colony. No one knows for sure, but most archaeologists believe it was an estate of an emperor.Another of the most incredible buildings to visit in Machu Picchu is the Room of Three Windows. Situated high within the mountain, you can peer out over the Inca trail, breathing in the fresh air filled with the energy of this spiritual region.
Dedicated to the god of the sun, Inti, this site is a place of spiritual solar worship. It follows the same pattern of ingenious Inca design, where the stones used in its construction somehow fit together without mortar.


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