| Machu Picchu was elected of the New Seven | | | | landscapes, riddled with soaring distant peaks and |
| Wonders of the World on July, 2007. Only one of the | | | | dizzying cliffs that plunge down to the foaming rapids |
| ancient wonders of the world still survives -- now | | | | of the river below, left the expedition members |
| history lovers are being invited to choose a new list of | | | | speechless. But Bingham was obsessed with finding |
| seven. Among 20 locations short listed for the | | | | the real Tampu t'occo. The legendary city of the first |
| worldwide vote is Machu Picchu, the only Peruvian | | | | Inkas described in accounts by early Spanish historians. |
| landmark selected. | | | | The explorer refused to accept the insignificant Tampu |
| Built in the 1460s and abandoned for three centuries | | | | t'occo ruins just 30 km from Cusco were the origins of |
| after the Spanish conquest, Machu Picchu, or "Old | | | | the founders of the Tawantinsuyo, the Inka Empire. |
| Peak" in the Quechua language, was rediscovered by | | | | That rainy morning of July 24, after a tough scramble |
| U.S. archeologist Hiram Bingham in 1911. Machu Picchu is | | | | up a hill known by the locals as Machu Picchu, Bingham |
| wonderful and incomparable, not only for its unique | | | | stumbled across an extraordinary complex of ruins |
| architecture. The natural beauty is astounding. | | | | hidden by weeds. He was convinced he had found the |
| Peru is known the world over because of Cusco, and | | | | lost capital of the Inkas. He could never have dreamed |
| Cusco is known for Machu Picchu. This Inka citadel, | | | | that instead of solving one mystery, he was to help |
| with its incomparable beauty and spiritual force that | | | | create another which has had researchers baffled |
| emanates from the archaeological remains, is privileged | | | | throughout the twentieth century. |
| to form part of that select group of world-class | | | | If this citadel, which featured stone constructions that |
| monuments that millions of travelers from five | | | | rivaled Cusco, was not Tampu t'occo, as the first |
| continents dream of visiting. Any attempt to explain | | | | studies by archaeologists and historians proved, what |
| what lies behind the enchantment of Machu Picchu | | | | was it? Why the chroniclers did did not mention this |
| World is in vain. Beauty cannot be explained. You have | | | | marvel of Inka architecture that seemed more the |
| to Experience it you own way. But we all agree that | | | | work of winged gods than Man? The failure of |
| the Inkas greatest achievement was to choose such a | | | | modern science to come up with answers to these |
| unique site and craft an architecture that blends in so | | | | questions merely added fuel to the mystery, which has |
| well with nature. | | | | spawned some of the most imaginative theories that |
| In July 1911, an American scientific expedition led by | | | | have drawn a dense veil of secrecy over the origins |
| Hiram Bingham hiked into the Urubamba River canyon, | | | | of Machu Picchu. |
| a balmy, damp, region of thick jungle. The wild, rugged | | | | |