Machu Picchu
The Inca citadel of Machu Picchu dates back to the 15th century and is situated on a 2,430-meter (7,970-foot) mountain crest in southern Peru's Eastern Cordillera. It is situated 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Cusco in the Machupicchu District of the Urubamba Province, above the Sacred Valley. It is passed by the Urubamba River, which cuts through the Cordillera to form a canyon with a tropical mountain environment.
In contrast to the Mayans, the Incas had no written language, and as far as is known, no Europeans visited the site before the 19th century. As a result, there are no records of the site's use in writing. On the basis of tangible evidence, such as tombs at the site, modern archeologists have created the names of the buildings, their alleged uses, and their people.
The estate was constructed by the Incas around 1450, but they left it unoccupied until the Spanish conquest a century later. The latest AMS radiocarbon date indicates that it was inhabited between roughly 1420 and 1532. The site, which is located on the lesser mountain of the same name, is thought to have been known by the Incas as Huayna Picchu, according to historical research released in 2022.
- #2 in Best Cheap Vacations in Central and South America
Country: Peru
