The ancient city of Machu Picchu is located on the crest of a mountain range. At an altitude of 2.5 km, it rises majestically over the valley of the Urubamba River. Despite the fact that Machu Picchu is translated from the Quechua language as "old peak", it is often called "the city in the sky" or "the city among the clouds."
Archaeologists suggest that the sacred city of the Incas was built in 1440 and existed until 1532, when Spanish troops invaded their empire. After 1532, the history of Machu Picchu ends abruptly. All its inhabitants disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
For more than 4 centuries no man has set foot in this place. In the 20th century, peasants settled in its ruins, wishing to live a calm, free life without ruining taxes and incessant wars. Rumors of an abandoned city in the mountains spread slowly but surely.
In 1911, accompanied by a local guide and a team, the American explorer Hiram Bingham visited this place and what he saw amazed him to the core: palace buildings, a whole complex of two-story residential buildings, a square, an altar for sacrifices and even a semblance of an observatory.
The technical progress made by the Incas during the heyday of their culture was at a high level. This is most clearly illustrated by a network of roads that, in terms of the size of the covered territory and the level of skill of the creators, can be compared with the road system of Ancient Rome.
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The "ruins" turned out to be a city completely unaffected by the war. Later it became known that the Spanish conquistadors did not manage to get to Machu Picchu. But where did all the inhabitants disappear then and why was the celestial monastery empty?
According to the widespread theory of scientists, the ancient city is the last refuge of the upper class of the Inca empire, and after its collapse, the entire mountain settlement left these lands. But where? It is doubtful that the people of the destroyed empire could have found a safer place to live, where they could be engaged in both agriculture and cattle breeding, which was revived by the peasants who came there.
According to legend, when the Inca rulers realized that the sunset of their era had come, they turned to the gods for help. They prayed day and night, making sacrifices to heaven. According to one of the versions, the city was enveloped in clouds, which carried away all the inhabitants in an unknown direction.
According to the other, the sky was silent and throughout the year almost all the inhabitants of the city were sacrificed. But the long-awaited sign from above never came. When the supreme ruler realized that they had made a terrible mistake, and they had neither faith nor people, he threw himself into the abyss. And a small part of the survivors scattered across the valley, carrying this legend to our days.
Unfortunately, Machu Picchu is constantly endangered. Back in 2001, The Times reported that Japanese archaeologists at the Disaster Prevention Research Institute at the University of Kyoto concluded that the mountain ranges on which the ancient city is located are being eroded at a rate of 12 cm per year.
The land layers on which the unique monument of Inca architecture is located are shifting and a collapse can occur at any time. There are those who believe that this threat is the curse of an abandoned abode. Nevertheless, every year thousands of tourists risk their lives to see all the beauty and mystery of the last resting place of the Incas.