Explore the remnants of Incan civilization at Machu Picchu. Believed to have been built as an estate for Emperor Pachacuti around 1450, Machu Picchu was abandoned during the Spanish Conquest. Though known locally, the “Lost City of the Incas” was virtually unknown to the outside world until 1911, when American historian Hiram Bingham visited the area and subsequently made its existence public. Since then, Machu Picchu has become both an international tourist attraction and a UNESCO heritage site.