ART SPATE: MACHU PICCHU: ONE OF THE "NEW" 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD

In the 15th century, the Incan Emperor Pachacútec built a city in the clouds on the mountain known as Machu Picchu (“old mountain”). This extraordinary settlement lies halfway up the Andes Plateau, deep in the Amazon jungle and above the Urubamba River. It was probably abandoned by the Incas because of a smallpox outbreak and, after the Spanish defeated the Incan Empire, the city remained ‘lost’ for over three centuries. It was rediscovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911, and as they escaped being plundered by the Spanish they include semi-intact icons and shrines that were defaced or removed at other sites.

Hiram Bingham, the real Indiana Jones, was an American academic, explorer and treasure hunter and politician. He obtained a B.A. from Yale University and a PhD from Harvard. Bingham was not a trained archaeologist, yet it was during Bingham’s time as a lecturer – later professor – at Yale that he discovered the largely forgotten Inca city of Machu Picchu.

The holy grail for lovers of Inca monuments, the enigmatic lost city of Machu Picchu is the most famous archaeological site in all of South America. The spectacular collection of temples, terraced hills and plazas was the mountain-top citadel of the Inca under Pachacutec and Tupac Yupanqui, until the coming of the Europeans with Pizarro.

It may have the most familiar name, but Machu Picchu has refused to reveal many of its mysteries, including the secrets of its construction, function and demise. The quality of the stonework hints that it was an extremely important ceremonial site.

Entering the site, a set of steps leads to the ruined Temple of the Sun and a series of altars and niches. Highlights include the remains of ceremonial baths, the Sacred Plaza with its tremendous view across the Urubamba River valley, a rare shrine to the sun, and a labyrinth of passageways and cells.