Machu Picchu

Ways of the World did not go very deep into the topic of Machu Picchu, so i decided to do some more research and found out a lot about the topic here. 

Machu Picchu contains approximately 200 buildings ranging from residences to temples and was built 43 miles northwest of Cuzco, the Incan capital, at an altitude of over 8,000 feet.  Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, an Incan ruler, was responsible for the construction of Machu Picchu. It was built between the years 1460 and 1470 and was home to around 1,200 Incans. Machu Picchu, meaing "Old Peak," was probably a combination of a royal estate and a place for religious retreats. Due to it's elevation and isolation, Machu Picchu most likely had no administrative, military or commercial purposes. One of the amazing things about the structure of Machu Picchu is the way the buildings were built. Without any mortar, Incan builders were able to fit all different shapes and sizes of granite together perfectly, with virtually no gap in between them. Even more impressive is the fact that such a large part of the buildings remain today.

The Incans of Machu Picchua were also very skilled farmers. They were able to grow all the crops necessary to support their own settlement. However, they did not grow nearly enough food to export to Cuzco.

Within Machu Picchu lived a thriving community that barely any outsider knew existed. However, right before the Spanish conquistadors arrived, smallpox hit the Incans, wiping out half of the population by 1527. The Incan government began to fail and the civilization fell into a civil war. By the time the conquistadors made it to Machu Picchu, there was nothing left of the once successful society.