The fauna in the reserve includes the spectacled bear, cock-of-the-rocks or "tunqui", tankas, wildcats and an impressive variety of butterflies and insects unique in the region. Typical plant life in the historic reserve of Machupicchu includes pisonayes, q'eofias, alisos, puya palm trees, ferns and more than 90 species of orchids. Landscape Flora and fauna īoth are abundant and varied. However these two factors contribute to very high levels of UV-radiation (nearby Cuzco actually has the highest average level of UV-radiation in the world for any major city) so do take precautions. Due to the altitude, extremely hot temperatures that one may expect this close to the Equator are absent. As is common in the tropics, most of the yearly rain falls during the rainy season which in Machu Picchu is October to April. These are in what is known by archaeologists as the Sacred District of Machu Picchu.ĭaytime highs are quite constant around the year, but the nighttime lows are much more pronounced during the Southern Hemisphere winter. Its primary buildings are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Since it was not plundered by the Spanish when they conquered the Incas, it is especially important as a cultural site and is considered a sacred place. In September 2007, Peru and Yale University reached an agreement regarding the return of artifacts which Hiram Bingham had removed from Machu Picchu in the early twentieth century. Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. He was on a trip sponsored by the Yale University, actually looking for the last Inca capital, which was at Vilcabamba, which Bingham also rediscovered but overlooked in favor of the more impressive Machu Picchu. However, it was not until Bingham that Machu Picchu was scientifically discovered. However, many people are said to have knowledge of the ancient city as it was referred to in some text found in the 20th century. Remarkably, the Spanish conquistadors missed the site. Located far up in the mountains of Peru, visitors had to travel up long valleys littered with Inca check points and watch towers. One thing that is clear is that it was a remarkably well hidden place, and well protected. The Incas started building it around AD 1430 but it was abandoned as an official site for the Inca rulers a hundred years later at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. At any given time, there were not more than 750 people living at Machu Picchu, with far fewer than that during the rainy season. Current researchers tend to believe that Machu Picchu was a country resort for elite Incas. The story of Machu Picchu is quite a remarkable one it is still unknown exactly what the site was in terms of its place in Inca life. It is also the end point of the most popular hike in South America, the Inca Trail. Perched dramatically 1000 ft above the Urubamba river, Machu Picchu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These remarkable ruins were rediscovered by the scientific world in 1911 by the American archaeologist Hiram Bingham, who was led to the site by locals. At 2,430 metres (8,000 ft) above sea level, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is often referred to as “The Lost City of the Incas”, is one of the most familiar symbols of the Incan Empire, and is one of the most famous and spectacular sets of ruins in the world. Machu Picchu is the site of an ancient Inca city, high in the Andes of Peru.
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