100th Anniversary of the Rediscovery of Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu the Legendary Lost City of the Incas

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the re-discovery of Machu Picchu.  Known as the Lost City of the Incas, this remarkable site was constructed in approximately 1450 by the Incas during the height of their reign and abandoned approximately 100 years later.

Since the citadel had been abandoned at the time the Spanish Arrived its existence remained unknown to the outside world.  Bingham a lecturer with Yale University had traveled to South America for the First American Scientific Conference in Santiago, Chile in 1908.  While there he was convinced to travel to Peru and view one of its fabulous Inca sites.

Bingham became captivated with the idea of discovering unexplored Inca Cities and returned to Peru several times of the next few years.  During the summer of 2011 Bingham returned again with the Yale Peruvian Expedition in search of Vilcambaba the last refuge of the Incas. However instead, on July 24, 1911, an 11 year old child Pablito Alvarez took Bingham to an area where he frequently played – which was Machu Picchu.

Today Machu Picchu is a major tourist site in South America.  Though now there is dispute over if the site was ever lost, or who first rediscovered the site it is Hiram Bingham who is credited for bringing Machu Picchu to the world’s attention.