Machu Picchu is an ancient Inca city located in Peru. Its name derives from the Quechua language and means ‘old mountain’, and it was built before the 15th century.
In this city is the best preserved set of buildings from the Inca Empire, one of the most powerful pre-Columbian civilizations in South America, which occupied extensive territories between Colombia and Chile.
Machu Picchu is located in a mountainous and jungle area on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains, 2430 m above sea level, in the province of Urubamba, department of Cusco or Cuzco, Peru.
In the image you can see different constructions, including the terraces for carrying out agriculture, an important activity for the sustenance of the Inca population.
The ancient city has an imposing architectural complex made up of houses, terraces, squares, staircases and temples. Its design and the prowess of its construction stand out for being located on the top of a mountain.
In 1981, the place where the Inca constructions are actually located was declared the Historical Sanctuary of Machu Picchu. In 1983 UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site, and in July 2007 it was nominated as one of the seven wonders of the modern world.
Machu Picchu century by century
Image of the remains that still remain of the house, stairs and open spaces of Machu Picchu.
The ancient city of Machu Picchu was inhabited, approximately, from the 9th century onwards by indigenous populations from the surroundings of Vilcabamba and the Sacred Valley.
Although Machu Picchu is located in a mountainous and jungle area, the first settlers managed to carry out agricultural work, which led to the settlement of its first settlers, until the construction of the city on the top of the mountain. This is how its history, struggles, oblivion and its rediscovery took shape.
Conquest of Pachacutec
Machu Picchu achieved its importance and notoriety in the 15th century when it was conquered by Pachacutec in 1430, the ninth ruler of the Inca empire or Tahuantinsuyo. Pachacútec was recognized for transforming the curacazgo, the ancient State of Peru, into the recognized Inca Empire.
Pachacutec’s domain encompassed the mountains of Machu Picchu, Huyana Picchu, its ravines and valleys. Under his rule, important administrative centers, religious sanctuaries, terraces for agriculture were built, and there was a notable increase in the population.
Years of transition and conquest of Peru
Pachacutec was succeeded by his son Túpac Yupanqui between the years 1470 and 1493, and he in turn by his son Huayna Cápac, who ruled between the years 1493 and 1527.
Huayna Cápac was characterized by concentrating the political and religious power of the empire in order to maintain the territories conquered by his father and control the constant resistance that existed in the northern area.
After dying of smallpox, his son Huáscar Inca took power of the empire between 1527 and 1532. During his mandate there were constant confrontations and conspiracies against him, especially by his brother Atahualpa.
Thus a civil war arose for the throne of the empire between the years 1529 and 1532, with Atahualpa emerging victorious.
During these confrontations the conquest of Peru also occurred. The Spanish led by Francisco Pizarro arrived in Cuzco, and took Atahualpa hostage and executed.
Incas of Vicabamba
After the Spanish conquest, Machu Picchu largely lost the importance it had achieved. The successors and legitimate heirs of Atahualpa went into exile in Vilcabamba, where resistance against the new conquerors continued.
Machu Picchu remained inhabited, to a lesser extent, and was considered a city that had to pay tribute to the new Spanish settlers, who rarely visited this town.
The Inca empire existed until the death of the last Inca of Vilcabamba, Túpac Amaru, who was executed by the Spanish in 1572. This event meant the official conquest of Peru.
Machu Picchu between the 17th and 19th centuries
With the death of the last Inca of Vilcabamaba, the Inca empire went into total decline. The Spanish settlers did not make important settlements in that area and Machu Picchu gradually lost its importance, although it was not completely uninhabited.
After many years, in 1865 Antonio Raimondi, an Italian naturalist, passed near the Inca buildings without knowing it. In 1867, a German businessman named Augusto Berns founded a mining company in the area, which he put Machu Picchu back on the map.
It was not until 1880 that Charles Wiener, French explorer, confirmed the existence of the forgotten city of Machu Picchu. He did not go, but he deduced it from various archaeological evidence that he had been told about.
Finding of Machu Picchu 1911
In 1911, the American professor Hiram Bingham carried out an expedition in the area, together with other guides, and arrived at Machu Picchu on July 24, 1911. In this way the Inca city was rediscovered.
Bingham found two families living nearby and one of them led him to the Inca ruins that were hidden by undergrowth.
After this discovery, Bingham requested the support of Yale University and permission from the Peruvian government to begin the study of the archaeological zone. In 1913, the magazine National Geographic published an article about Machu Picchu. Since then, this archaeological area stood out for its cultural and historical value.
See also
The 7 wonders of the modern world.
The 7 wonders of the ancient world.