Machu Picchu’s architecture and charm
Introduction
Hidden in the rocky field northwest of Cuzco, Peru, it is believed that Machu Picchu was a real property or a sacred religious site for the Incas leaders, whose civilization was probably annihilated by the Spanish invaders in the 16th century. For hundreds of years, until the American archaeologist Hiram Bingham ran into her in 1911, the existence of the abandoned citadel was a secret that only the peasants who lived in the region knew in the region. The site extends over an impressive distance of 5 miles, with more than 3.000 stone steps that join its different levels.
Developing
Today, hundreds of miles of people register Machu Picchu every year. Historians think that Machu Picchu was built in the apogee of the Inca Empire, which dominated the West of South America in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It was abandoned approximately 100 years after its construction and probably around the time when the Spaniards began their conquest of the powerful pre -Columbian civilization in the 1530s. However, there is no evidence that the conquerors have attacked or arrived at the citadel of the top of the mountain.
For this reason, some have suggested that the dropout of residents occurred due to a smallpox epidemic. Machu Picchu consists of more than 150 buildings ranging from bathrooms and houses to temples and sanctuaries. Many archaeologists today believe that Machu Picchu served as a real property for the Incas Emperors and Noble. Others have theorized that it was a religious site, pointing out its proximity to the mountains and other geographical characteristics that the Incas considered sacred.
Dozens of alternative hypotheses have emerged in the years since Machu Picchu was announced for the first time to the world, and academics interpreted it in various ways as a prison, a shopping center, a station to try new crops, a retirement of womenor a city dedicated to coronation. Of kings, among many examples.
Machu Picchu’s "discovery" by Hiram Bingham
In the summer of 1911, the American archaeologist Hiram Bingham arrived in Peru with a small team of explorers hoping to find Vilcabamba, the last Inca bastion that fell into the hands of the Spaniards. Traveling on foot and on Mula, Bingham and his team went from Cuzco to the Urubamba Valley, where a local farmer told them about ruins located at the top of a nearby mountain. The farmer called the Machu Picchu mountain, which translates as ‘old peak’ in the Quechua native language.
On July 24, after a hard climb to the mountain crest in a cold and rainy weather, Bingham met a small group of peasants who showed the rest of the road. Led by an 11 -year -old boy, the excited Bingham ran his voice about his discovery in a book Superventas, "The Lost City of the Incas", sending hordes of anxious tourists to Peru to follow his steps for the previous dark Inca path. He also excavated Machu Picchu artifacts and took them to Yale University for a deeper inspection, which resulted in a custody dispute that developed almost 100 years.
It was not until the Peruvian government filed a lawsuit and pressed President Barack Obama to return the articles that Yale managed to complete his repatriation. Although it is attributed to having announced Machu Picchu in the world – of fact, the tourist buses of the road they use to reach it bear their name – it is not certain that Bingham was the first stranger to visit her. There is evidence that missionaries and other explorers arrived at the site during the 19th and early twentieth century, but they simply talked less about what they discovered there.
The Machu Picchu site
In the middle of a tropical mountain forest on the eastern slopes of the Peruvian Andes, the walls, terraces, stairs and ramps of Machu Picchu they are perfectly integrated into their natural environment. The finely elaborate masonry of the site, the fields in terraces and the sophisticated irrigation system testify to the architectural, agricultural and engineering skill of the Inca civilization. Its central buildings are excellent examples of a masonry technique dominated by the Incas in which the stones were cut to fit without mortar.
Archaeologists have identified several different sectors that together compose the city, including an agricultural area, a residential neighborhood, a real district and a sacred area. The most famous and distinctive structures of Machu Picchu include the Temple of the Sun and the Intihuatana stone, a rock of sculpted granite that is believed to function as a solar clock or calendar.
conclusion
Machu Picchu is declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1983 and designated as one of the new seven wonders in 2007, it is the most visited attraction in Peru and the most famous ruins in South America, and receives hundreds of miles from miles frompeople a year. The increase in tourism, the development of nearby cities and environmental degradation are making a dent on the site, which also houses several endangered species. As a result, the Peruvian government has taken measures to protect the ruins and prevent the erosion of the mountain slope in recent years.
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