Machu Picchu - The Lost City of the Incas, Peru
- Built in 1450 c. at an elevation of 7,900 ASL, Machu Picchu is one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
- It was rediscovered in 1911, by Hiram Bingham, a Yale Professor.
- It was known as the Emporer's retreat, but was also a state-of-the-art astronomical observatory! (See the "Hitching Post," photo in the slide presentation.
- Fortunately, the city was so secluded, that it was never discovered by the Spaniards.
- The stones are so carefully adjoined that even a credit card cannot be slipped through the seams.
- The city was built upon two fault zones and the secure arrangement of the stones causes them to jiggle or "dance" during earth movement and then settle back into place. The perpendicular shape of the window openings further protected the walls against collapse during an earthquake.
- The terraces are designed not only for experimental planting of various crop species, but also to protect against rain inundation, landslides, as well as to slow down the advance of attacking enemies by their hard-to-climb "inclined" design.
- The surface architecture is of polished dry-stone granite. Research shows that sixty per cent of ruins are underground in its sub-structure. Who knew!
- One thousand years after completion Machu Picchu was evacuated. It's demise is thought to have been brought about by smallpox.
Cusco - P'isaq - Ollantaytambo - Chinchero
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