MACHU PICCHU(PERU)
Since the site was never known to the Spanish during their conquest, it is highly significant as a relatively intact cultural site. Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll.
Machu Picchu was built around 1450, at the height of the Inca Empire. It was abandoned just over 100 years later, in 1572, as a belated result of the Spanish Conquest .
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Most seasoned travelers agree that Machu Picchu in Peru is the world's most dramatic ruins. It sits boldly perched on a steep sided mountain saddle far above the partially encircling Urubamba River gorge.
What remains of the precision stonework of the pre-Colombian Inca temples and palaces clearly reveals how exalted Machu Picchu was in its glory days.
