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Mysteries of Machu Picchu

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Lost city of the Incas

Lost city of the Incas

Built at the height of the Incan civilization in what is now Peru, Machu Picchu was rediscovered on 24 July, 1911, by Yale University scholar Hiram Bingham. (Eitan Abramovich/AFP/Getty Images/Life.com)


Standing atop Machu Picchu


Standing atop Machu Picchu

Three Peruvian locals stand on a masonry ledge of Machu Picchu and look out over a deep valley at one of the Amazon's source streams in 1911. (Frederic Lewis/Getty Images/Life.com)

Architectural wonder


Architectural wonder

Machu Picchu features ingenious engineering designs for an area prone to earthquakes. (Eitan Abramovich/AFP/Getty Images/Life.com)


Incan fortress


Incan fortress

The site was designed to be impenetrable by invaders, defended at its back by a nearly insurmountable mountain and protected by steeply terraced walls. (Eitan Abramovich/AFP/Getty Images/Life.com)


Houses in the sky

Houses in the sky

(Medioimages/Photodisc/Life.com)

Saved from ruin


Saved from ruin

Remarkably, Machu Picchu was never found and plundered by the Spanish explorers despite the fact that it was close to the Incan capital, Cusco. (Dennis Hallinan/Life.com)


Llama of Machu Picchu

Llama of Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu was abandoned about 100 years after it was founded, possibly because of a smallpox epidemic. Scholars still debate over the site’s intended use. (Eitan Abramovich/AFP/Getty Images/Life.com)

Ruins with a view


Ruins with a view

(Eitan Abramovich/AFP/Getty Images/Life.com)