About
High in the Peruvian Andes at 2,430 meters above sea level, Machu Picchu was built around 1450 CE under Inca emperor Pachacuti. The site was abandoned around 1572 during the Spanish conquest and lay unknown to the outside world for over 300 years until Hiram Bingham 'rediscovered' it in 1911 — though local farmers knew of it throughout.
The city contains over 200 stone structures including temples, residences, and agricultural terraces. The construction is extraordinary — stones weighing up to 25 tons fitted without mortar so precisely a blade cannot be inserted between them. The city survived multiple earthquakes over 500 years because the stones flex and resettle.
# Top 10 Machu Picchu Lost City facts
- 1Machu Picchu's stones were fitted so precisely that a credit card cannot be inserted between them
- 2Hiram Bingham 'discovered' it in 1911 — but local farmers had been farming the terraces for generations
- 3The entire site was built without wheels, iron tools, or draft animals — using only human muscle
Fascinating Facts
- ◆Machu Picchu's stones were fitted so precisely that a credit card cannot be inserted between them
- ◆Hiram Bingham 'discovered' it in 1911 — but local farmers had been farming the terraces for generations
- ◆The entire site was built without wheels, iron tools, or draft animals — using only human muscle
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