South America Highlights
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu is known as the lost city of the Incas and is located high on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba valley in Peru.
It was built around 1450 but later abandoned when the Spanish arrived. When the site was left the trail leading to it was removed and it became 'lost' until Hiram Bingham found it, completely overgrown by the rainforest in 1911.
In 1981 it was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary and in 1983 a UNESCO world heritage site. It is one of the seven wonders of the new world.
Location: Machu Picchu, Peru
All images © Caroline Aston 2008
