Machu Picchu History

We often believe that before Hiram Bingham came to Machu Picchu, this great citadel and its Inca Trail were unused and unknown. This is not exactly right. There were a number of settlers in the Maranpampa area growing sugar cane a hundred years before his "discovery".

Peter Frost comments, "A church document of 1728 states "over 900 souls inhabit the stretch of river between here and Guaynapicho" who lack any form of spiritual administration."

In addition, 30 years prior to Hiram Bingham's explorations - the explorer Antonio Raimondi marked on a map clearly "Cerro Machu Picchu"

In the last century of colonial rule and during independence, the area downriver from Machu Picchu became a centre of sugar and coca plantations, which produced much cane alcohol, so moonshiners evaded taxes along the official route by carrying on muleback the alcohol up the Aobamba valley, joining the Inca trail between the first and second passes - it is imagined that the mules badly damaged the inca road which is why there is no Inca paving up to the Pacamayo, and the good state of preservation after this point.

Machu Picchu was constructed around 1450, at the height of the Inca empire, and was abandoned less than 100 years later, as the empire collapsed under Spanish conquest. Although the citadel is located only about 50 miles from Cusco, the Inca capital, it was never found and destroyed by the Spanish, as were many other Inca sites. Over the centuries, the surrounding jungle grew to enshroud the site, and few knew of its existence. It wasn’t until 1911 that Yale historian and explorer Hiram Bingham brought the “lost” city to the world’s attention. Bingham and others hypothesized that the citadel was the traditional birthplace of the Inca people or the spiritual center of the “virgins of the sun,” while curators of a recent exhibit have speculated that Machu Picchu was a royal retreat. Regardless, the presence of numerous temples and ritual structures proves that Machu Picchu held spiritual significance for the Inca.

top link: Who Built Machu Picchu? A short history of the Inca. Gary R. Ziegler http://www.adventurespecialists.org