MACHU PICCHU

The mysterious lost Inca City of Machu Picchu was discovered a 100 years ago, by American explorer Hiram Bingham.It was discovered on July 25, 1911 and was officially recognized as one of the new world wonder in 2007. the ruins in the Urubamba valley,510 km south of Lima,have 250,000 visitors a year.

The word 'Machu Picchu' means "old mountain" in Quechua, the ancient language of the Incas. It is located in the Cusca Region of Peru, on the top of a mountain, 2430m above sea level. Most archeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacutec (1438-1472). Although known locally, it was unknown to the outside world until 1911.Since then, the region has become an important tourist attraction.By 1976, 30% of Machu Picchu had been restored. Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO  World Heritage Site in 1983.

Hiram Bingham, who discovered the site, was worked as a lecturer at Yale University and had been searching  for the city of Vilcabamba, the last Inca refuge during the Spanish conquest. He had worked for years around the zone. Pablito Alvarez, a local 11 year-old Quechua boy, led Bingham up to Machu Picchu. Bingham called the complex "The Lost City  of Incas", which was the title of his first book.

UNESCO is describing Machu Picchu as "an absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilization". Machu Picchu was both a center of worship and astronomic observatory as well as the private retreat of the family of Inca ruler Pachacutec. It is split into two major areas: the agricultural zone, made up of terracing and food storehouses; and the urban zone, featuring the sacred sector, with temples, squares and royal tombs which have been carved to an extra ordinary degree of perfection.

The Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary, and particularly the forests that line both banks of the Urubamba river, below the citadel of Machu Picchu itself, are home to the habitats of an enormous variety of bird species.The Sanctuary also protects unique species of flora and fauna, the cock-of-the-rocks (Peru's national bird), the spectacled bear, rare dwarf deer called Sachacarba, the Huemal deer, bright colored orchids and tree-born ferns, considered treasures of the Sanctuary.