The Inca Trail

Macchu Picchu - the view from Intipunku

Macchu Picchu was discovered by Hiram Bingham on July 24, 1911. Bingham was a professor of Latin American history at Yale University who had received funding from the University and the National Geographic Society to find Villcabamba, a lost Inca fortress. After weeks of trekking along the Urubamba river, Bingham met a farmer at Quechua and asked him if he knew how to find Villcabamba. The man replied that he didn't, but offered to show him Macchu Picchu instead.

Bingham concluded that he had in fact found Villcabamba, and when he returned from his expedition with his photographs there came the publication of a special edition of the National Geographic magazine all about Macchu Picchu.

Since then, there has been much speculation about the origins and purpose of the site. Bingham thought that it was a military stronghold, and others believe it was a religious retreat. Some archaeologists think that Machu Picchu may have been built by the Inca Pachacutec in the early 15th century, but there is the Spanish ever learned of the site's existence.

Three burial sites were discovered at Macchu Picchu and 70 per cent of the bodies discovered were female. Archaeologists have concluded that the site was abandoned before it was completed, though the reason why remains a mystery to this day, and Macchu Picchu continues to enchant thousands of visitors every year.