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What is Machu Picchu?

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Also called the "Lost City of the Incas"—which also happens to be easier to spell properly than the Inca form of "Old Mountain"—Machu Picchu has lasted the centuries atop a peak of the Andes Mountains. This is the city famous for stones fitted so precisely that nobody can fit so much as a blade of grass in-between the boulders used as bricks. The masonry is precise, immense, and mind-boggling from the thin air; how did the boulder-bricks manage to get there? Earthquakes shake but do not topple this archeological wonder.

Though referred to as a city, perhaps "town" would be more accurate for the 200 buildings that could hold an estimated 1200 people. From the design of certain buildings and the location in a mountain, it has been suspected but unproved that the city may have been the long sought-after El Dorado ("The Golden" or "The Gilded") of the Spanish. Bingham suspected a large temple-like building was Tamo-toco, a legendary temple known only by description from other Incan sites. However, the time when the temple of legend is said to have been built and the late-Incan style of the other buildings of the city do not match.

Like the age, the purpose of Machu Picchu is not known, though it was divided into a religious, a military, and a residential section separated by a central square. Historians hypothesize that it may have been a religious center or a religious retreat for the reigning family. Because of its place in the mountains, mist swirls about the city in the morning light.

There are actually two branches of Machu Picchu: Machu Picchu proper, the Inca city in ruins, and the official Machu Picchu Pueblo, literally "Machu Picchu Town," that is in the valley below. Though Machu Picchu Pueblo is the official name of the valley town, the villagers themselves generally use the former name: Aguas Calientes, "Hot Waters," possibly called such because of the humidity. Most refer to the town as Aguas Calientes.

An interesting feature of Machu Picchu proceeds from its strategic small size and location: though it offers a clear view of the valley below, it cannot be seen from the valley.

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