¡Maravillas del Perú, wonderful and magical land! : world wonder

Machu Picchu, the Inca marvel discovered to the world

Machu Picchu (Quechua Machu pikchu, "Old Mountain") is the name of a llaqta or ancient Andean town built in the mid fifteenth century in the rocky promontory that links the Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu in the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Central, southern Peru and 2490 m, altitude of the main square.

In XVI century documents, it is indicated that Machu Picchu would have been one of the residences rest of Pachacutec, the ninth Inca Tahuantinsuyo between 1438 and 1470. The finest buildings and ceremonial character of the main access road to demonstrate that was llaqta used as a religious sanctuary. Both uses, the palace and the temple, it would have been incompatible. Military character which connotes the adjectives of "strength" or "citadel" is not justified.

Machu Picchu is both a masterpiece of architecture and engineering. Its unique architectural features and landscaping, and the veil of mystery surrounding it have become one of the most popular tourist destinations on the planet.

Machu Picchu is on the List of World Heritage of UNESCO since 1983 as part of a cultural and ecological set called Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu. The July 7, 2007 Machu Picchu was declared one of the new seven wonders of the modern world in a ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal.

The definition of Unesco is:

“Located 2,430 meters high in a place of great beauty, in the middle of a tropical mountain forest, the sanctuary of Machu Picchu was probably the most amazing urban creation of the Inca Empire at its height. Its walls, terraces and ramps seem gigantic being carved in the rock cliffs, as if they were part of it. The natural setting, on the eastern slope of the Andes, is part of the upper Amazon basin, which has a varied flora and fauna”.

Photo Unesco

The origin is uncertain. Some attribute it to Pachacutec (1438-1470); others argue that Huiracocha Inca ordered the construction of this world wonder (years 1380-1400). It is believed that his poblaciónestaba formed by inhabitants of the elite (the panaca of Pachacutec) and acllas. The agricultural labor force consisted of mitimaes or mitmas settlers (mitmaqkuna) from different corners of the empire.

In 1865, the Italian naturalist Antonio Raimondi passed near the ruins without knowing it. It is also assumed in those years, the area begins to receive visits by interests different from the scientists. Treasure predation had begun. In 1867, the German Augusto Berns not only have "discovered" the ruins but founded a “mining company " to exploit the alleged "treasures" that lodged (Explotadora Company Limited of the Temples of the Inca). Between 1867 and 1870 and with the approval of the government of Jose Balta, the company operated in the area and sold "everything found" to European and American collectors.

At that time maps listed mineral exploration and Machu Picchu. In 1870, the American Harry Singer first recorded on a map of Cerro Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu referred to as "Punta Huaca del Inca". The name reveals an unusual relationship between the Incas and the mountain and even suggests a religious character (one huaca in the Ancient Andes was a sacred place). A second map of 1874, prepared by the German Herman Gohring, mentions and locates in its exact site both mountains. In 1880 the French explorer Charles Wiener confirmed the existence of archaeological remains in place.

The first direct references on visitors of the ruins of Machu Picchu indicate that Agustín Lizárraga, Cuzco farmer, arrived July 14, 1902 leading the visitors, who left graffiti with their names on one of the walls of the Temple of the Three Windows. One of the graffiti read "Agustin Lizarraga July 14 - 1902", which shows that Lizarraga had discovered Machu Picchu before Bingham, but this is not an unfair gesture gave him credit.

Hiram Bingham (November 19, 1875 - 6 of June 1956) was an explorer and politician United States. He was a professor at Yale when he led an exploration of the South America, where by indications from Lizarraga, rediscovered Machu Picchu.

The discovery took time and money, because he found the ruins after two expeditions. Bingham took fifty thousand archaeological pieces of Machu Picchu to Yale University. A few years ago some of them returned but the destination is uncertain Peru existing public corruption. Perhaps it would have been better off staying at Yale.

Hiram Bingham found irrefutable proof of a previous expedition, and sent delete arguing conservation reasons. He recorded the fact in their travel diaries but "forgot" to point this out in his book "The Lost City of the Incas" published in 1948, which was presented to the world as the sole discoverer of Machu Picchu.

In Photo: Sergeant Carrasco and Pablito Richarte, the child who led Bingham to the ruins (Detail shot of Hiram Bingham's July 24, 1911)

Agustin Lizarraga could not get the recognition he deserved for his prowess, nor their descendants have achieved since the "scientific discoverer" remains the center of attention, despite being officially considered second visitor to the ruins. Winston Churchill said "history is written by the victors," or in this case, the erase and rewrite on it.

Bingham handled the auspices of Yale University, the National Geographic Society and the Peruvian government to initiate the scientific study of the site, conducting archaeological excavations between 1912 and 1915, a period in which the brush is cleared and Inca tombs were excavated in the outskirts from the city. The "public life" of Machu Picchu begins in 1913 with the publication of an article in the journal of the National Geographic.

Although Bingham is questioned his lack of ethics, he had the distinction of being the first person to recognize the importance of the ruins, studying them with a multidisciplinary team and reporting their findings. Is in doubt the scientific approach, reflected in the irregular departure of excavated archaeological material, at least some 46,332 pieces. In any case it was a well planned "scientific plundering". In March 2011 these pieces began to be returned to Peru.

Besides archeology, Martin Chambi, a noted Peruvian photographer, accompanied by Juan Figueroa, between 1924 and 1928 took a series of photographs of Machu Picchu that were published in different Peruvian magazines, massifying local interest on the ruins and turning them into a symbol national. It can be considered a discovery through the image.

Thereafter, the facts that have transformed Machu Picchu on a global appeal, happened quickly. In 1948 a dirt road that climbed the mountain slope to the ruins from the train station was created; in 1981 the ecological protection zone around the ruins is created; in 1983 it happens to be a member of the World Heritage List.

Teo Allain Chambi, photographer and grandson, he says "My grandfather respected Machu Picchu by their remoteness and majesty."