Is the mysterious Machu Picchu a sky city that appeared out of nowhere?

Text by / MOOK Scenic Spots Family Travel Life Network Editorial Department compiled and reported

Machu Picchu, the real-life inspiration for the sky city in the works of Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki. In the Quechua language, Machu Picchu means "old mountain peak." The ancient temple of Machu Picchu is situated on a stunning high mountain over a hundred kilometers northwest of Cusco, the former capital of the ancient Inca Empire, surrounded by tropical jungle. The ancient city sits at an altitude of 2,400 meters, built atop a cliff with the Urubamba River rushing day and night below. Due to its sacred, mysterious, and isolated atmosphere, Machu Picchu was designated a UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage site in 1983, and was listed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.

Although Machu Picchu is world-famous, very little is actually known about its history, and its unknown and unresolved past only adds to its mystique. The Inca culture had no written language; history was passed down entirely through special knot records and oral tradition, with no written records. The grand architecture and palaces of Machu Picchu have long been hidden away on this narrow mountain ridge. Ever since the Spanish invasion of Peru, it has remained a mystery—especially the fact that it was strangely overlooked for so long, which is even more baffling. The blanks in its history have made Machu Picchu seem like an ancient city that appeared out of nowhere on Earth, leaving its true past, purpose, and reason for being abandoned still undetermined.