Machu Picchu, Peru

Huayna Picchu (young peak) towers over Machu Picchu (old peak), the Inca citadel in Peru. The Inca city of Machu Picchu is thought to be an estate of the Inca emperor Pachacuti, who ruled 1438 to 1472. My son and daughter climbed Huayna. The Incas built a trail up the side of the Huayna Picchu and built temples and terraces on its top. The trail to reach it is very steep and narrow, but the view (I hear) is amazing. The peak of Huayna Picchu is about 8,920 feet (2,720 metres) above sea level, or about 1,180 ft (360 metres) higher than Machu Picchu. I had signed up to climb it, but I didn't get any higher than a few yards up its base. Machu Picchu was built around 1450, at the height of the Inca Empire and was abandoned in 1572. This citadel is probably the most familiar icon of Inca civilisation. Although the Machu Picchu citadel is only about 50 miles (80 kilometres) from Cusco, the Inca capital, the Spanish never found it and consequently did not plunder or destroy it, as they did many other sites. After Machu Picchu was abandoned, the surrounding jungle grew over the site, and few knew of its existence. American historian Hiram Bingham brought international attention to the site in 1911. The National Geographic Society devoted their entire April 1913 issue to Machu Picchu. In 1983 UNESCO designated Machu Picchu a World Heritage Site, describing it as "an absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilisation." In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll. In 1981 Peru declared an area of 325.92 square kilometres (125.84 sq mi) surrounding Machu Picchu as a "Historical Sanctuary" It's a very popular tourist destination, but because of the pressure of it being loved to death, tourist numbers are limited each day.