Machu Picchu – How They Kept the Secret
By Gary Ziegler of Adventure Specialists
Inca expert Gary Ziegler explores the riddle of how Machu Picchu, the center of Inca culture, could hide itself in the mountain jungle!
Tourist and locals at Machu Picchu great pictures family travel packagesHow’d they keep the secret of Machu Picchu?
It’s hard to understand from our knowledge of Greek, Egyptian and other early civilizations with written records how such a magnificent site (Machu Picchu) could not have been discovered by the Spanish. Yet until its discovery in the 1911, Machu Picchu, “the lost city of the Incas”, remained forgotten for 400 years.
Actually, Machu Picchu was not a city at all. It was probably built by Pachacuti Inca as a royal estate and religious retreat in 1460-70. Machu Picchu’s location-on a remote secondary road in nearly impassable terrain high above the Urubamba River canyon cloud forest-almost ensured that Machu Picchu would have no administrative, commercial or military use. Any movement in that direction to or from Cusco and the Sacred valley upriver would have been by other Inca roads, either the high road near Salcantay or by the Lucumayo valley road. Travel was restricted on these roads except by Inca decree.
After Pachacuti Inca’s death, Machu Picchu remained the property of his ayllus, or kinship group, who were responsible for maintenance, administration and continued building. As an extraordinary sacred site (location as well as buildings), Machu Picchu surely was visited by Topa Inca and the last great ruler, Huayna Capac, although each in turn built their own estates and palaces. But few outside the Inca’s retainers would have known of Machu Picchu’s existence. source: gorp.com
Read more about Machu Picchu and how they kept the secret within the pages of our site or contact our travel experts to help you understand more about Machu Picchu.
