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Summary Peru prepares to celebrate the 100 anniversary of the rediscovery of Machu Picchu.
Thousands of tourists now make their way each year to the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru but the famous citadel was rediscovered just one hundred years ago.Perched on a rocky outcrop at 2,500 metres (8,200 feet) near the edge of Perus southern jungle, Machu Picchu was built more than 500 years ago as the capital of the Incan Empire.Machu Picchus anniversary festivities have already got underway with a series of shows and exhibitions.Peru is planning a glorious celebration for the sites 100-year anniversary, culminating in a ceremony at the citadel itself with a performance by the Cusco Symphony Orchestra.Most archeologists now believe it was constructed as an estate of Pachacutec, the leader of the Incans that turned the settlement of nearby Cusco into a great empire that stretched from Colombia to Chile.After the Incan Empire fell, Machu Picchu fell from the minds of men until U.S. explorer Hiram Bingham stumbled upon the bastion in 1911.Archaeologists have been pouring over the site since 1911 and yet the citadel has still not yielded all its secrets.Each year archaeologists are making new discoveries at Machu Picchu and they expect to keep doing so in the years to come.
