Machu Picchu

The Machu Picchu; a hidden city that was never discovered by the Spaniards and thus is still completely intact. The amazing place is located in Peru and is Peru's most famous tourist attraction. At the same time, this in turn brings dangers to the wonder of the world so the Machu Picchu is very well protected from all factors that can damage the city.

• Machu Picchu was built by the Incas, the people who had the largest empire in the world at the time.
• The hidden city among the sharp peaks of the Andes Mountains probably had no average function.
• The isolated city is closed to tourists every February because of ecological restoration.

The Machu Picchu is a city at an altitude of 2,400 meters among the steep mountains of Peru. It is the city of the Incas; from the 13th century this Indian people lived in an area of Peru and had their own capital: Cuzco. The language they spoke was Quechua and the name of the city in this language was "Machu Pikchu. The Indian people were religious and their religion based on honoring sun god Inti spread throughout the area. In terms of size, the Inca Empire was the largest empire in the world. They kept control of this huge empire with the help of a road network, tunnels through the mountains and bridges over canyons and rivers. When Columbus discovered America in 1492, it eventually led to the demise of the Inca Empire.

Because of its location at an altitude of 2,400 meters among steep mountains, the city was difficult to reach and was never discovered by the Spanish when they discovered the Americas. There is much speculation about Peru's Machu Picchu, as its former function is not clear. Since the city was very inaccessible, experts expected that it did not have an average function. Nevertheless, the Incas used to lay a path to the city. The entire trek from Cuzco (where the Incas gathered) to the isolated city is done on foot. It totals about 100 kilometers with the last bit through the Andes mountains up to the hidden city considered the toughest part; this is the Inca trail. Nowadays, thousands of tourists visit Machu Picchu and thus also walk the famous Inca trail. To avoid damage to the path, only 400 tourists per day are allowed to enter the path and only groups accompanied by a guide are allowed to go up.

Machu Picchu is a hidden city among the highest and sharpest peaks of the Andes Mountains. 'Machu Picchu' therefore means 'Ancient Summit'. The city's "buildings" have been restored since the 20th century to give tourists the clearest possible idea of what it probably looked like in the past, but also to protect the city as much as possible, since it is very fragile. Natural phenomena such as earthquakes or weather cause the city to be damaged. In addition, despite their caution, tourists are a factor causing the Machu Picchu to be affected. Consequently, every February, the Machu Picchu is closed for ecological restoration.

The Incas built the city using numerous techniques that made it resistant to earthquakes at the time. Furthermore, many of these techniques had to do with the position of the sun; the sun meant everything to the Incas. The famous Intihuertana stone in the hidden city was seen as an astronomical clock or calendar that was tracked according to the position of the sun, which is what researchers believe. Whether this is really true is not known. In addition, the stone lies at exactly those coordinates that the sun is directly on the stone on Nov. 11 and Jan. 30 in the middle of the day, creating no shadows at all around the stone. Furthermore, the stone creates the longest shadow on its southern side on June 21 and a much shorter one on its northern side on December 21. This is probably indicative of the seasonal changes we use today.