Machu Picchu

Informational Essay
By: Logan Harper

I am doing my multi-genre informational essay on the lost city of Machu

Picchu. Machu Picchu is believed to be a religious site for Inca leaders in the

country of peru. It is located 112.5 km northeast of the city of Cusco.

Surrounding Machu Picchu there is a majestic forest and mountain range.

Currently Machu Picchu is a tourist trap and hike destination for people

visiting Peru, It used to be a religious site for the Inca people. Machu Picchu is

surrounded in mystery. For example, why was it built, who built it, why was it

abandoned and why was it unknown to everybody for a long time? Before

starting this project I knew very little about Machu Picchu. All I knew before

starting this project was it was a beautiful city and that it was abandoned for

no apparent reason. I found out about the city when I was at an assembly for

an author telling us about his mystery books. One of the mysteries that

inspired him to make these books was the city of Machu Picchu.

Machu picchu is believed to be a religious site for Inca leaders, but there

are other ideas. The evidence supporting this hypothesis that Machu Picchu is

a religious site for Inca leaders is as follows. First, many of the buildings

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appear to have been used for religious use. Also, the unnecessary isolation

high up in the Andes most likely has some spiritual or religious meaning.

Secondly, the mountain is an important religious landscape referred to by the

Incas as “Hearn and Golomb.” This is one of the many reasons that Machu

Picchu is seen as a religious site and gives the grounds of Machu Picchu

possible spiritual significance. Lastly, according to National Geographic,

“Machu Picchu formed a cosmological hydrological and sacred geographical

center for vast religion.”

The second most common belief is that Machu Picchu was a royal

retreat for 15th-century Inca Emperor Pachacuti. It would have been used as

a retreat for the royal family to hide away for a couple days, they would hunt

and entertain royal guests. Evidence that supports this theory is that the

emperor was believed to use the southwest part of the site. In the southwest

part of the site archaeologist found a staircase running along a “royal

compound” that leads to a large room where the empire had a private garden,

a bath and the only private bathroom on the whole site. Some people think it

could also be a Holy nunnery, a recreation of an Inca myth or a honored a

sacred landscape.

The construction of Machu Picchu has inspired many people because of

the unique and difficult way it was built. The entire city of Machu Picchu was

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made without the use of mortar, which is a cement-like substance that

connects bricks together. The people that constructed Machu Picchu cut rocks

so perfectly to fit together without the use of mortar. This masonry technique

made the buildings so strong they could stand up to an earthquake and

extreme weather. Some people even say it is so tight you can not fit the blade

of a knife between the rocks.

Machu Picchu was constructed in 1450. It is believed that this was the

time the two great Inca leaders Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui and Tupac Inca

Yupanqui ruled. Machu Picchu appeared to be used and inhabited until 1572.

It was found in 1911 by American explorer, Hiram Bingham. Bingham found

the mountain when exploring Peru. A local farmer told Bingham about the

mountain which he named Machu Picchu or “Old Mountain.” The reason

Machu Picchu was abandoned was because of the collapse of the Inca empire.

The Inca empire collapsed because the Spanish invaded South America. When

they came they brought plagues of disease and military campaigns that waged

war with the Incas. While the Spanish never brought conflict directly to the

city of Machu Picchu they killed the great leaders of the Inca people. After the

death and fall of the great Inca leaders Machu Picchu was never re inhabited

by Inca people.

Machu Picchu may just seem like a cool tourist trap but really it is more

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than that. It is a city embedded in Inca history. We can learn how they lived

and what their lifestyle was like. The way Machu Picchu was constructed is an

inspiration to modern architecture techniques. In conclusion I have learned

that Machu Picchu is not just a beautiful city, but a city full of mystery, wonder

and inspiration.