Machu Picchu facts
While investigating facts about Machu Picchu Tours and Machu Picchu Hike, I found out little known, but curios details like:
The famous Inca site of Machu Picchu was constructed less than 50 years before Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World
how machu picchu was built?
In 1978 a monolithic rock was moved from Machu Picchu to make way for a helicopter landing site for the Royalty of Spain. This was done again in 1989, for a meeting of Latin-American leaders, damaging the stone beyond repair and so it was buried.
Who lived at machu picchu?
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what to wear at machu picchu. Here are 33 of the best facts about Machu Picchu Weather and Machu Picchu Tickets I managed to collect.
what to do at machu picchu?
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Oxford University is 200 years older than the Aztecs, 300 years older than Machu Picchu, and 150 years older than the Easter Island heads
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In an effort to reduce the number of tourists to the site, there are now rules as to how many people can visit Machu Picchu in a day.
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Machu Picchu is under threat from several different sources. These include too many tourists, and the fact that weather and earthquakes can make access difficult.
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Yale Professor Hiram Bingham is thought to be one of the first non-Peruvians to lay eyes on the site in 1911. Even Peru's Spanish conquerors did not find it during the Spanish Conquest. This likely saved the Inca site from being destroyed.
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To visit the site today it takes either a four day or two day journey by foot. It can also be reached by train that only takes a few hours.
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Thanks to an internet pole in 2007, it was voted as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
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It is located on the eastern Andes mountain slopes in a tropical mountain forest. There are terraces and walls that look as if they were cut from the rock.
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It is 7,970 feet above sea level.
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One of the reasons Machu Picchu may have been abandoned is because of an outbreak of smallpox. This disease is thought to have been introduced to the Incas from travelers that visited the site prior to the Spanish Conquest.
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An ancient shrine in the Peruvian citadel of Machu Picchu was permanently damaged in 2000 while filming a beer commercial
Why machu picchu is a wonder of the world?
You can easily fact check why machu picchu was built by examining the linked well-known sources.
There are three main structures located in the Sacred District of Machu Picchu. One is the Temple of the Three Windows which, along with the main temple are said to have the most impressive architecture in Machu Picchu. The second is the Temple of the Sun, a semi-circle shaped temple that at once time was thought to have gold and precious jewels inlaid in the door. The third, the Intiwatana, is a stone located on the top of a hill. Access is via 78 steps which lead to a platform. It's believed that this stone was used as calendar or an astronomic clock.
Machu Picchu, the Inca site, had been lost to man for hundreds of years deep in the Amazon. An American explorer rediscovered the site.
It's thought that a German business man discovered Machu Picchu in 1867 and removed artifacts from the site. There are maps that show Machu Picchu dating back to 1874, which means that Hiram Bingham was not the first to see the magnificent site.
It was named a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981, and two years later, in 1983 UNESCO classified it as a World Heritage Site.
Machu Picchu was discovered only in 1911 by the American explorer Hiram Bingham III, aided by Melchor Arteaga - source
When machu picchu was built?
Machu Picchu was built as a royal estate for the Inca ruler Pachacutec and was only used for 80 years before being abandoned.
How machu picchu was discovered?
Machu Picchu is also known as the Lost City of the Incas.
In 2008 Machu Picchu was placed on the Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the World by the World Monuments Fund. This was due to environmental degradation from tourism and development that has occurred in a nearby town. This town Aquas Calientes has built a bridge and a tram to make access to the site easier for tourists.
In 2007 there was a private 'millennium project' to select 7 new wonders of the world, from a list of 200. Over 100 million votes were cast, and the winners selected was: Chichen Itza, Christ the Redeemer, Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Petra, Taj Mahal, and the Colosseum.
There is also an ongoing battle between Yale and the government of Peru. Due to Hiram Bingham's discovery of the site and removal of artifacts, the government and Yale are in a dispute over the artifacts themselves.
Nude tourism is considered a threat to Machu Picchu. In several incidents, tourists were detained for posing for nude pictures or streaking across the site.
