The demise of Machu Picchu is also shrouded in mystery. It seems to have fallen out of use around the time of the Spanish conquest of 1532, and once the city was abandoned, the surrounding forest quickly took over. machu Picchu could no loger be seen from the valley, the road leading up to it was quite hidden, and the site became nearly inaccessible. It would be almost 400 years before it would be rediscovered
The most impressive Incan ruins in the world.
The legendary city of Macchu Picchu lies hidden in the Andes at an altitude of over 2400 metres. Nestled between two steep mountain peaks, the ancient city of the Incas remains as mysterious and fascinanting as ever.
What is it?
A complete Incan City in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.
Where is it ?
Near Cusco, Peru.
Did you Know ?
Machu Picchu is the most well-preserved city of the Inca empire, hidden in the Peruvian Andes high on a steep mountain with a flattened top, a location that helped it escape notice by Spanish conquistadors. It was forgotten for centuries by the outside world, and re-discovered by archeologist Hiram Bingham in 1911.
The southern slope was adapted for agriculture, with terraces cut into the mountainside that could be filled with earth brought up from the fertile Urubamba Valley.
These terraces, called “andenes” where retained by low walls. This let them be irrigated artificially without the soil washing away. The water was brought down to the terrace fields from the higher mountains by means of an ingenious network of canals and channels. This system of irrigations still functions today !
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