Machu Picchu: high in the Peruvian Andes, this fifteenth-century Inca hideaway is shrouded in clouds and sacred mysteries.

• Author: Balaguer, Alejandro
• Position: New Seven Wonders of the World - Report

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The morning mist exhaled by the rainforest evaporates over the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, adding to the sense of mystery emitted by its massive stone walls. The sun filters through the clouds, casting its first light on stairways, chambers, temples, residential areas, terraces, canals, and granite doorways, and unveiling this wonder of the world tucked away in the Andes of southern Peru.

The harmonious distribution of structures is arranged to underscore the grandeur of Machu Picchu's natural surroundings. The setting seems to confirm the idea that many of the Inca monuments were designed to be seen from the heights of Hanan Pacha (Higher World) as an offering and devotion to the guardian deities: the Apus or major mountain peaks, Water, Sun, Mother Earth.

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Once this place first came to the attention of the outside world, nearly a century ago, various theories arose about its function and meaning. Some believed it was the very birthplace of the Inca people, or a place set apart for chosen Virgins of the Sun, or perhaps the last capital of the Inca Empire. Unlike many other important civilizations, the Inca people left no writings or codices that would unravel their secrets. Over time, the history of Machu Picchu has been coming to light through scientific research and excavations, although a mantle of mystery still hovers over much of its past like the dense fogs that shroud its ancient walls.

It is known that sixteenth-century documents affirm Machu Picchu as a sacred residence of the Inca Pachacutec, or Pachacuti, the great emperor who from 1438 to 1470 extended the reaches of this Andean empire. It was around 1450, during his military campaign to the Cordillera de Vilcabamba, when--overwhelmed by the scenic majesty of the Picchu gorge--Pachacutec ordered the construction in that spot of a stone city that would please the gods and defy the passage of time. However, the first inhabitants of the area arrived long before those noble walls would be built. According to archaeological excavations, some 3,000 years ago migrants from the sierra had come to colonize the surrounding area, establishing terrace farming and extending the lands where native crops were cultivated.

In Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas, published by Yale University in 2004, researchers describe this complex as a royal estate---akin to the modern US presidential retreat of Camp David--where the Inca ruler could go to relax, away from the capital of Cuzco. "A royal palace is a formal architectural symbol of the power of the ruler and his elite," writes Yale archaeologist Lucy Salazar. "Studies of the structure and the functioning of the Machu Picchu household indicate that members of the Inca royalty and their retainers engaged In celebrations, diplomatic feasting, religious ceremonies and rituals, astronomical observations, and administrative affairs of the empire in Machu Picchu's warmer and more pleasant climate."

Machu Picchu's design points to "the centrality of worship" at the palace, according to Salazar. "The claim by Inca Pachacuti and later rulers that a special relationship existed between the Inca royal lineages and the supernatural forces immanent in the landscape and the celestial sphere was so important that it had to be actively reaffirmed through daily ritual," she writes.

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In this high-mountain rainforest, the temperamental skies that look...