Explorers have found ruins of a lost city on a peak in the Andes Mountains of Peru. They think the site belonged to the Inca who ruled the region more than 500 years ago. The ruins are on a mountain called Cerro Victoria in a very re mote region of Peru. This area was the place where the Inca retreated to when the Spanish conqueror Pizarro came in the 16th century.
Local people have known Cerro Victoria for a long time, but they didn’t know what it was. A British photographer went there with a team of archaeologists in 2001. The team had to hike and climb for four days to reach the site from the nearest road. Some of the ruins are 4,500 m above sea level.
When they got there they found storehouses, courtyards, roads, terraces and many other stone buildings. Archaeologists think that the Inca chose the place for two reasons. It was near important silver mines and it gave the people a great view of the mountains. The Inca may also have gone there to observe the sun and the moon from a perfect spot.
The explorers hope to find out when the lost city was built and how long the Inca lived there.