| There are more historically important Inca ruins than Machu Picchu, but none captures the eye and the imagination like this 15th century ruin perched, quite literally, on the “eyebrow” of the rainforest. Machu Picchu, which means literally \manly peak,\ was most likely a royal estate and religious retreat. Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, an Incan ruler built this remote sanctuary between 1460 and 1470 AD. The city has an altitude of 8,000 feet, and is high above the Urubamba River canyon cloud forest, so it probably did not have any administrative, military or commercial functions. |
