How the “old mountain” came to be and why mass tourism can be a huge problem for the site
At Sto Gran Tour, we’re lucky enough to see the incredible wonder that is Machu Picchu several times a year. And if you want, you can join the lucky club too by booking your spot on our next full 2-week itinerary through Peru.
Over the years, one of the questions our travelers have asked us most often is: “So, who built Machu Picchu?” And our quick and polite answer has always been the same: “We have no idea.”
Today, however, we’ve studied up a little more and now we know how to answer that question. And even if you couldn’t care less about any of this, well, you’re the one who made this web search happen: you wanted the bike, now pedal!
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The man who wanted to become emperor
Once upon a time, in what is now Peru around the 15th century, there was a man named Pachacútec. He didn’t choose to become a clerk, a laborer, or a mailman. No, he wanted a career that would bring him much more money and prestige.
So he found himself facing a dilemma: become a notary, a reality TV heartthrob, or an emperor?
He chose the last option, and that is how he became the founder of the Inca Empire.
Okay, maybe it didn’t happen exactly like that, but the fact remains that he was emperor, and under his rule the Inca kingdom became a true power in South America.
In 1440 (or so they say), Pachacútec decided to have an entire city built in the mountains, to be used as a summer residence for himself and the nobility: and that is how Machu Picchu was born (meaning “old mountain” in the Quechua language).
With the arrival of the conquistadors—those “fine gentlemen” who, if they noticed you wearing a bit of gold, would run you through with a sword without a second thought to steal it—the Incas were literally massacred and entire areas were depopulated, either because of the killings or because people fled to safer places. In the middle of all this chaos, Machu Picchu too was visited less and less by the local population, until it was completely abandoned.
Over time, the small city in the mountains was almost entirely forgotten, only to be rediscovered in 1911 by an American explorer named Hiram Bingham, who recognized its archaeological importance and helped make this wonder known throughout the world.
The architecture of Machu Picchu: simply astounding
From an architectural point of view, Machu Picchu is absolutely astonishing, with its walls that seem to defy gravity and terraces that appear to hang over nothingness.
First of all, let’s talk about stone. Not just any stone, but granite—a material so hard, really hard indeed.
The Incas were so advanced in their techniques that they made granite blocks look as if they had been shaped with modeling clay. Using a technique called ashlar masonry, they fitted finely cut stones together without even a gram of mortar.
The result?
Walls so perfectly aligned that not even the thinnest sheet of paper could slip between them. And all this without the help of iron or steel tools, using only bronze and stone implements.
But that’s not all.
Beyond the perfection of its walls, Machu Picchu is also a true masterpiece of hydraulic engineering. With 16 cut-stone channels managing water from 14 natural springs, the Incas were masters of water control, also through the construction of terraces that played a crucial role in preventing erosion and managing rainwater runoff.
And then there are the structures.
From religious buildings such as the magnificent Temple of the Sun, to administrative buildings and prisons (probably used to hold nobles awaiting ransom), every structure had a specific function and showed the Incas’ mastery in choosing materials and building techniques.
Machu Picchu today: let’s not make a mess, okay?
And that brings us to today, when Machu Picchu is no longer just a lost city of the ancient Inca Empire, but a true star: added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1983 and chosen as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.
In short, we’re talking about a serious upgrade.
Unfortunately, as often happens, fame comes at a price: every year, hundreds of thousands of tourists visit Machu Picchu, and this has created a great number of environmental and conservation challenges.
After all, just imagine crowds of visitors trampling those paths every day, touching the stones the city was built with, and wearing away the ground as they pass. Not to mention the possibility of reducing local culture to a mere caricature of what it really is, a phenomenon that unfortunately appears very often in the face of mass tourism.
In short, we all risk making a huge mess of things.
The Peruvian government, which quite rightly does not want one of the most spectacular monuments in the world to be irreparably damaged, has introduced measures to protect it, from limiting the number of daily visitors to constant maintenance.
We hope these initiatives will be enough to keep Machu Picchu from becoming nothing more than a nostalgic memory.
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In conclusion
At this point, we can sum up Machu Picchu like this: a wonder left to us by the Incas that not only challenges the laws of physics with its masterfully fitted stones, but also reminds us how advanced they were in terms of engineering and architecture.
And now, in the 21st century, here we are facing a modern dilemma: how do we preserve this heritage without turning it into a theme park for selfies and souvenir T-shirts?
Brrr, we get goosebumps just imagining it.
The challenge is great, but not impossible. We must find a balance between admiring and protecting, between visiting and preserving. How? Perhaps by starting to see Machu Picchu not just as a destination to check off a bucket list, but as a place to respect, understand, and preserve.
This is the philosophy that guides us on our trips to Peru as well as anywhere else in the world.
