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Facts About and History of
Machu Picchu, Lost City of the Incas
Official site for tourist and travel information
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION The site is located on the highest part of the eastern Andes, above the Rio Urubamba and northwest of Cuzco. The park is
accessible by road or by rail from the lower valley and then bus or car to the ruins. 13°10'S, 72°33'W
ALTITUDE about 6,000 feet ASL
AREA 32,592 hectares
LAND TENURE Private ownership (property of four main "predios": Mandorpampa, Q'ente, Torontoy and Santa Rita de Q'ente).
DATE AND HISTORY OF ESTABLISHMENT Brought to the attention of the outside world by Hawaiian-born Yale- and Harvard-educated historian Hiram Bingham in
1911. Created as an historical sanctuary on 8 January 1981, under Law (Supreme Resolution) DS 001-81-AA. Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1983.
PHYSICAL FEATURES The site lies in the Selva Alta zone, and includes part of a highly dissected mountain massif of the high Andes plateau, which rises
steeply from the Urubamba River valley. The area around the ruins of Macchu Picchu consists of many rocky pinnacles with exposures supporting thin soils,
although the area also includes sites with complex systems of old Inca terraced land constructed to conserve the soils. The Urubamba alluvial basin is an almost
continuous zone of arable and pastoral farming land. Geologically the area is very complex, being a combination of marine sedimentary rocks of the
Cretaceous-Tertiary period and intrusive volcanic material, including lavas and granites. The sedimentary deposits include Ordovician schists, slates and
quartzite. Streams and rivers feed the major Rio Urubamba valley system as well as a number of smaller valleys in the north such as that of Quillabamba (MAA,
1986).
CLIMATE The annual temperature averages 16°C (60°F) and annual rainfall is between 1500mm and 3000mm at low altitudes. At 2,500m (8,000 feet)
altitude, the average temperature drops to 10.2°C (50°F), and annual rainfall is 2170mm. The dry season lasts from May to September and the wet season from
October to April.
VEGETATION The site has been influenced by man for many centuries, leading to a combination of man-made habitats, paramo grassland, Polylepis
thickets, partially degraded virgin forest and former cultivated land which has reverted back to forest or scrub. At lower altitudes, patches of woodland
predominate, their extent being dependant upon past human interference, especially during the Inca period. The vegetation rises from the dry subtropical forest
along the river valleys to the very humid low montane forest. Trees represented in the denser woodland include locally endangered mahogany Swietenia
macrophylla and species of the following genera; Ceder, Podocarpus (the only conifer in Peru), Lauraceae Ocotea, Cunoniaceae
Weinmannia, Nectandra and Cecropia. A number of tree ferns are present, including Cyathea sp. and also palms such as Geromoina
sp., Guasca sp. and Riupala sp. (MAA, 1981). Reeds Phragmites sp., willow and alder occur around rivers and streams, whilst open grassland,
low shrubs and scattered thickets of Polylepis sp. and bamboo are found close to the ruins (Parker et al, 1982). The high altitude
subalpine paramo includes many Graminae, Festuca sp., Stipa sp. and Puya sp. such as P. raimondii (I). The mountain ridges are
characterised by bamboo Gaudua sp. (Parker et al., 1982).
History of the Modern Discovery of Machu Picchu
Local natives led the American explorer, Hiram Bingham, and his team to the site of Machu Picchu in 1911. Bingham, now world-famous as the
discoverer of Machu Picchu, did not initially travel to South America to explore the land of the Incas. In fact, the Hawaiian-born Yale- and Harvard-educated
historian first journeyed south from the United States to complete his study of the great nineteenth century liberator, Simon Bolivar.
Bingham rested at a small hut near the site where he enjoyed the hospitality of a group of campesinos. They told him that they had been living there for
about four years and explained that they had found an extensive system of terraces on whose fertile soil they had decided to grow their crops. Bingham was then
told that the ruins he sought were close by and he was given a guide, the 11-year-old Pablito Alvarez, to lead him there.
Almost immediately, he was greeted by the sight of a broad sweep of ancient terraces. They numbered more than a hundred and had recently been cleared of
forest and reactivated. Led by the boy, he re-entered the forest beyond the terraces. Here young Pablito began to reveal to Bingham a series of white granite
walls which the historian immediately judged to be the finest examples of masonry that he had ever seen. They were in fact, the remains of what we call today
the Royal Tomb, the Main Temple, and the Temple of the Three Windows.
Above all, there is the fascination of finding here and there under swaying vines, or perched on top of a beetling crag, the rugged masonry of a bygone race;
and of trying to understand the bewildering romance of the ancient builders who, ages ago, sought refuge in a region which appears to have been expressly
designed by nature as a sanctuary for the oppressed, a place where they might fearlessly and patiently give expression to their passion for walls of enduring
beauty."
Other people saw and even lived at Machu Picchu before Hiram Bingham even set foot in Peru, but had neither the means nor the opportunity to bring the "lost
city" to the attention of the outside world. Bingham himself found two families living at the ruins and was led to the main plaza by a young boy. As early as
1894, a local farmer called Agustin Lizarraga led one Luis Bejar Ugarte to the ancient city. This same Lizarraga took his friends Gabino Sanchez and Enrique
Palma on a treasure-seeking trip to the ruins on July 14, 1901, visiting all the accessible parts of the then uncleared site. When Bingham arrived at the ruins
he found the rock that the three friends had signed with their names and the date of their visit. In his later writings, however, he downplayed this discovery.
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