When Hiram Bingham, a young Yale professor, discovered Machu Picchu in 1911, he found a site overrun with vegetation. At an altitude of nearly 8,000 feet, the ruins, which sat above the cloud line in Peru's Andes Mountains, had remained relatively undisturbed for more than 300 years. Media in the United States declared it one of South America's most important and well-preserved sites.Now nearly 2,500 tourists visit Machu Picchu everyday. This influx of visitors has caused a dilemma: How can Peru promote the ruins as a tourist destination, while also preserving the fragile ancient city? In March, a controversial bridge opened within the Machu Picchu buffer zone, some four kilometers outside of the sanctuary, making available yet another pathway to visitors. This development has caused heightened alarm among those who find it increasingly difficult to protect the World Heritage Site.Bingham probably never envisioned the sheer number of people visiting Machu Picchu today.

After all, he came upon the site by chance. While exploring Peru on a scientific expedition, Bingham met a local tavern-keeper Melchior Arteaga who described ruins at the top of a high mountain. In July 1911, a farmer in the area led Bingham up a treacherous incline through thickly matted jungle to an ancient city. Buried under hundreds of years of brush and grass, the settlement was a collection of beautiful stone buildings and terraced land—evidence of advanced agricultural knowledge. This site, Bingham believed, was the birthplace of the Inca society, one of the world's largest Native American civilizations.

View: Full Article | Source: Smithsonian Magazine