Machu Picchu Terraces
by Catherine Sherman
Title
Machu Picchu Terraces
Artist
Catherine Sherman
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
"Machu Picchu Terraces, Peru" by Catherine Sherman.
Tourists explore the steep terraced hillsides of Machu Picchu, which sits at 7,972 feet (2,430 meters) above sea level in the Andes Mountains in Peru. Here, mists have rolled in bringing light rain.
Machu Picchu was built around 1450, at the height of the Inca Empire and was abandoned in 1572. This citadel is probably the most familiar icon of Inca civilization. Although the Machu Picchu citadel is only about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Cusco, the Inca capital, the Spanish never found it and consequently did not plunder or destroy it, as they did many other sites. After Machu Picchu was abandoned, the surrounding jungle grew over the site, and few knew of its existence. American historian Hiram Bingham brought international attention to the site in 1911. The National Geographic Society devoted their entire April 1913 issue to Machu Picchu.
In 1983 UNESCO designated Machu Picchu a World Heritage Site, describing it as "an absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilization." In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll. In 1981 Peru declared an area of 325.92 square kilometres (125.84 sq mi) surrounding Machu Picchu as a "Historical Sanctuary" It's a very popular tourist destination, but because of the pressure of it being loved to death, tourist numbers are limited each day.
"Whats New" group (12/06/2019)
Uploaded
December 1st, 2019
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Viewed 1,169 Times - Last Visitor from Cambridge, MA on 04/25/2024 at 12:09 AM
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