Why was Machu Picchu abandoned and forgotten for centuries?
A city in the clouds that even the Spanish never found.
The answer
Built around 1450 CE as an estate for Inca emperor Pachacuti, Machu Picchu sits at 2,430 meters in the Peruvian Andes. It was likely abandoned around 1572 during the Spanish conquest, possibly due to smallpox. The Spanish never discovered it, and it remained known only to local farmers until American historian Hiram Bingham brought it to international attention in 1911. Its sophisticated dry-stone construction - fitted without mortar - has survived centuries of earthquakes.
Source: Britannica
- Inca
- Peru
- archaeology
- architecture
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