We're more than halfway home on our daily publication of facts marking 100 years since the rediscovery of Machu Picchu. Hiram Bingham III, a Yale professor, came upon the vine-covered ruins on July 24, 1911. Here, then, as we lead up to the century mark, are 100-plus facts about Machu Picchu, its country, its history and its players. We've been posting one each of the 100 days leading to the anniversary. Read from the bottom up.
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100 facts for 100 years of Machu Picchu: Fact 51
(Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles…)
51. The early explorers, led by Hiram Bingham, were unclear about the purpose of Machu Picchu. Remains found at the site allegedly were all women, leading some to believe it was the sanctuary of the Virgins of the Sun.
50. Machu Picchu is hard to see from below. It is in a cloud forest (note to visitors: Mornings are often foggy) and has been overgrown.
49. If the Spaniards failed to find Machu Picchu, perhaps it's because they were distracted by their desire for the spoils of war, which is partly what led to disagreements between Diego de Almargo and Francisco and Hernando Pizarro.
48. Francisco Pizarro was killed by the son and supporters of his partner, Diego de Almargo, who had been executed by Pizarro's brother, Hernando.
47. Francisco Pizarro easily took over the city of Cuzco. Two years later, he founded Lima, where he died in 1541.
46. In 1533, Atahuallpa was executed, and explorer Francisco Pizarro began his march to Cuzco.
45.Amazingly, Francisco Pizarro's men, who numbered less than 200, overcame 4,000 or so Incans and captured Atahuallpa, the Incan ruler.
44. In November 1530, Francisco Pizarro and Atahualpa, the Incan ruler, were to meet in Cajamarca, an Incan city in northern Peru. Pizarro told Atahualpa to give himself to Christ and the Spaniards, and when he refused, Pizarro decided to attack.
43. The governor of Panama thought the expeditions foolish, so Francisco Pizarro went to Spain to speak directly with the emperor, who said yes. Off Pizarro sailed.
42. Pizarro and his partner, Diego de Almargo, and a priest, Hernando de Luque, sailed down the west coast of South America twice.
41. Francisco Pizarro seems an unlikely player in that drama. He was a bit of a puzzle. Once, the explorer was marked as unambitious, but after a stint as mayor of a city named Panama (in, not surprisingly, Panama), he turned his attention to South America.
40. Where once there was an Incan empire, now there was a Spanish empire that endured for 300 years.
39. The conquistadors played a huge role in Peru, of course. Led by Francisco Pizarro, they claimed the land for Spain in the 1500s.
38. Did the Spaniards know of Machu Picchu? Hiram Bingham didn't think so. "Yet so far as I have been able to discover, there is no reference in the Spanish chronicles to Machu Picchu. It is possible that not even the conquistadors ever saw this wonderful place."
37. Hiram Bingham continued, "Surprise followed surprise until we came to the realization that we were in the midst of as wonderful ruins as any ever found in Peru."
36. And what, really, could be? Here's what Hiram Bingham wrote in Harper's Monthly in 1913 about coming upon Machu Picchu. "... Suddenly we found ourselves in the midst of a jungle-covered maze of small and large walls, the ruins of buildings made of blocks of white granite, most carefully cut and beautifully fitted together without cement."
35. Hiram Bingham found Vilcabamba, but he dismissed it because it wasn't as grand as Machu Picchu.
34. Today, historians think the real Vilcabamba is close to Vitcos, an archaeological site, in the eastern Andes. Another swashbuckling explorer, Gene Savoy, came upon it in 1964 at a place called Espiritu Pampa.
33. Hiram Bingham thought he had found Vilcabamba, the true "Lost City of the Incas," which was said to be where the Incas took refuge from the Spaniards.
32. Columbus, of course, thought he discovered Asia; Hiram Bingham thought he discovered the "Lost City of the Incas." Both were wrong.
31. Here's something Hiram Bingham and Christopher Columbus have in common: Both thought they had discovered some other place.
30. Like many explorers, Hiram Bingham didn't know exactly what he found.
29. Hiram Bingham said in his Harper's Monthly story, published in 1913, that a "local muleteer" may have been in Machu Picchu in 1902, based on scrawls he found on a wall. It seems clear that even if the Spanish didn't know it existed, others certainly did.
28. Hiram Bingham may not have been the first European to find Machu Picchu. Some say it was a German named Augusto Berns who came upon it in 1867.
27. Hiram Bingham didn't really discover Machu Picchu; the residents knew it was there, and a local Quechua-speaking guide, Melchor Arteaga, is said to have led him there.
26. Machu Picchu was, not surprisingly, declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983.
25. When you enter Machu Picchu, you'll see why it's been designated one of the best-preserved pre-Columbian ruins in the world.
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