Huayna Picchu Peak at Machu Picchu, Peru Poster

"Huayna Picchu Peak at Machu Picchu, Peru" by Catherine Sherman. At the foot of the peak, visitors wait at the huts to the entrance of the Huayna Picchu trail at Machu Picchu, Peru. The name ‘Huayna Picchu’ comes from the Quechua language, meaning ‘young mountain’ (‘Huayna’ is young and ‘picchu’ is mountain). The Inca city of Machu Picchu is thought to be an estate of the Inca emperor Pachacuti, who ruled 1438 to 1472. The city stands at 7,972 feet (2.430 metres). Machu Picchu was built around 1450, at the height of the Inca Empire and was abandoned in 1572. This citadel is probably the most familiar icon of Inca civilization. Although the Machu Picchu citadel is only about 50 miles (80 kilometres) from Cusco, the Inca capital, the Spanish never found it and consequently did not plunder or destroy it, as they did many other sites. After Machu Picchu was abandoned, the surrounding jungle grew over the site, and few knew of its existence. American historian Hiram Bingham brought international attention to the site in 1911. The National Geographic Society devoted their entire April 1913 issue to Machu Picchu. In 1983 UNESCO designated Machu Picchu a World Heritage Site, describing it as "an absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilization."