The Lost City of The Inca Machu Picchu In Peru ,
rediscovered in 1911 by Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham,
are one of the most beautiful and enigmatic ancient sites in the world.
One of Machu Picchu's primary functions was that of astronomical observatory.
The Intihuatana stone has been shown to be a precise indicator of the date of the two equinoxes and other.
While the Inca people certainly used the Andean mountain top (7972 feet elevation), erecting many hundreds of structures
legends indicate that Machu Picchu was revered as a sacred place
Whatever its origins, the Inca turned the site into a small (5 square miles) but extraordinary city.
Invisible from below and completely self-contained,
surrounded by agricultural terraces sufficient to feed the population,
and watered by natural springs,
Machu Picchu seems to have been utilized by the Inca as a secret ceremonial city Two thousand feet above the rumbling Urubamba river,
the cloud shrouded ruins have palaces, baths, temples,
storage rooms and some 150 houses,
all in a remarkable state of preservation.
These structures, carved from the gray granite of the mountain top are wonders of both architectural and aesthetic genius.