Ventures Birding . . . entrance to Machu Picchu

Ventures Birding . . . entrance to Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu (Quechua: Machu Pikchu) -- "Old Mountain", is a pre-Columbian Inca site located 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level.[1][2] It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438--1472). Often referred to as "The Lost City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World.

Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (or Pachacutec) was the ninth Sapa Inca (1438-1471/1472) of the Kingdom of Cusco, which he transformed into the empire Tawantinsuyu, or the Inca Empire. Most archaeologists now believe that the famous Inca site of Machu Picchu was built as an estate for Pachacuti.[1]

In Quechua, Pachakutiq means "He who shakes the Earth". During his reign, Cuzco grew from a hamlet into an empire that could compete with, and eventually overtake, the Chimu. He began an era of conquest that, within three generations, expanded the Inca dominion from the valley of Cuzco to nearly the whole of 'civilized' South America.

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• Machu
• Picchu