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My 5th visited of the New Seven Wonders of the World having seen the Colleseum in Rome Italy, the Great Wall in China, Taj Mahal in Agra India, and Petra in Jordan.
Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel, located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru, on a 2,430-metre (7,970 ft) mountain ridge. It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District, above the Sacred Valley, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cuzco. The Urubamba River flows past it, cutting through the Cordillera and creating a canyon with a tropical mountain climate.
Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was constructed as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often mistakenly referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is the most familiar icon of Inca civilization. The Incas built the estate around 1450 but abandoned it a century later at the time of the Spanish conquest. Although known locally, it was not known to the Spanish during the colonial period and remained unknown to the outside world until American historian Hiram Bingham brought it to international attention in 1911.
Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary structures are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of how they originally appeared. By 1976, 30% of Machu Picchu had been restored and restoration continues.
Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historic Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll.
Starting off the week with the mysterious Machu Picchu. Our last big trip just before covid hit. Ready to travel again soon.
Machu Picchu classic view looking to the various sections and terraces of the ruins. The two big peaks in view require separate tickets. For those very fit people they take about 45mins for the smaller mountain and 2-3hrs for the bigger one. Numbers are limited due to the steepness and paths. People have fallen and died.
The main terraces and ruined buildings show magnificent stonework with areas for the priests, nobles, and Incan King.
This panorama from above Machu Picchu shows clearly how it is situated at the top of the ridgeline, with precipitous dropoffs to the canyon of the Urubamba river snaking around both sides far below. Taken from six separate images, it covers such a large area that it is best viewed full screen, to see the detail in the ruins and all the people exploring them. I had difficulty blending the six images previously, but was finally able to do so with the current version of Photoshop Elements. My camera died during the middle of this trip, so the images used for this panorama were taken with my wife's pocket camera.
I'll be off for a while, so I thought I'd leave this one for you while I'm gone. I'll try to check in periodically and keep in touch.