Machu Picchu

It's pretty amazing that the most famous Incan ruins are thought to only have been a 'country retreat' for the Incan nobility. Sitting in a saddle between the mountains of Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu at 2430m altitude, the ruins of Machu Picchu are spectacular for their grandiosity and their location.

Agricultural terraces line the steep sides of the mountain below a citadel that was constructed with water channels running through it from a water source over 1km away. Isolated and defensible, Machu Picchu was only built in 1450 and was abandoned 100 years later when the Spanish invaded. The main reason for it being the most widely known Incan ruin is because it is the most intact of all the Incan ruins  ...  because it was never found and befouled by the Spanish.

Whatever is said about it, it is a site that must be seen to be believed!

A precarious bridge created by the Incas to help defend their jungle retreat.