One of the Seven Wonders of the World, Machu Picchu is an INCA site situated on a mountain ridge almost 7000 feet above sea level. It is referred to as the lost city of the Inca. It was discovered in 1911 by an archeologist Hiram Bingham and his team. He later wrote a book "The lost city of the Incas." Bingham took away almost 45000 artifacts from Machu Picchu which till 2003 was with the Yale University but after several negotiations and lawsuits, the artifacts were handed over to the country of Peru.
The funerary rock hut is one of the photogenic places at Machu Picchu which can be reached by hiking. Many historians believe that this was the place where the nobles of the Inca people were mummified. From funerary rock stairs go down where you enter the Royal Tomb, the place where Inca Kings were mummified. This cave like place contains a royal cross which is engraved on one wall and is adjoining to the temple of the sun.
The cross contains three steps with the first represented by the snake which means death. The second step is represented by a jaguar which presents human life and the final step which is represented by a condor is the spiritual plane of the gods. Intihuatana stone is a ritual stone in Machu Picchu which points directly to the sun. If one wants to see the outstanding crafts ship of the Incas the observation from the Sacred Plaza is nothing like ever seen before. The temple is a wonderful example of the wonderful stone carving of the Incas.
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At the end of the Machu Picchu lies the Sacred Rock which was common to every villager living here. The beautiful example of stone carving of the Inca is the Temple of the Condor. This rock started to form million of years ago and the Inca expertly shaped the rock into the wings of a condor in flight. Your adventure of Machu Picchu is not complete until you see the animals in the area. One of the unique creatures that you will see is the Alpaca which is quite similar to Llama.
People often get mistaken between the two creatures but Alpaca is smaller than the llama. The quality of Alpaca wool is also better than that of the Llama. The Incas also used Alpaca wool to make their clothing which were woven beautifully and were of different colors. Over 420 species of birds inhabit this area as well which makes it a wonderful destination for birdwatchers. Some of the common birds in the area are the Collard Trogon, White Tipped Swift and the versi-colored Barbet.
Paramount Pictures filmed a picture in 1954, Secret of the Incas. This was the first major Hollywood movie which was filmed at Machu Picchu. Over 500 people were taken as extras in the movie. In 2004 another movie, the Motorcycle Diaries was filmed in Machu Picchu which was based on a youth who was travelling. An Indian movie Enthiran made a song Kilimanjaro in Machu Picchu. The scenery of Machu Picchu is worth watching numerous times over. This is the reason that Machu Picchu is one of the wonders of the World.