• HISTORY: The Incas began building the ‘estate’ in 1400 CE, but its rulers abandoned it as an official site a century later at the time of the Spanish conquest. Machu Picchu was known to
Indigenous people, but invisible to the outside world. It was brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham. Declared a Peruvian Historical
Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, it is Peru’s most visited historic and cultural site.
• THE SITE: Located 7,970ft above sea level, Machu Picchu is on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley, 50 miles northwest of Cusco, through which the Urubamba river flows. Archaeologists believe that
Machu Picchu was built for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438-72). People living nearby continue a way of life like their Inca ancestors, based on growing potatoes and maize and rearing llamas and alpacas.
• INCA TRAIL: The Inca Trail is South America’s most famous trek and is widely rated among the top five in the world. Over its 26 miles, it combines
fine mountain scenery with lush cloud forest, subtropical jungle and Inca paving stones, ruins and tunnels, leading to Machu Picchu. Visitors will need to apply months in advance to obtain a permit.
• NEW WONDER: Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. There are more than 140 structures, including sanctuaries, temples, plazas, holy springs and houses, plus more than 100 flights of stone steps.