The history of the historic sanctuary of Machu Picchu is full of lagoons, mysteries and legends. To begin with, the idea that nobody knew anything about him since he was abandoned by the Incas until Hiran Bingham discovered it is false. Machu Picchu was not only known, but its farmland was still used. Moreover, Hiran Bingham found two families of farmers living in the area, although not in the city proper.

Did the conquerors arrive to put their feet in Machu Picchu? Well that is another of the doubts that surround the city. It has always been said no, that the city was abandoned before and the Inca roads that led to it were cut. But there are writings of conquerors that describe a city in the mountains with a similar disposition to Machu Picchu.

The truth is that the area was used for cultivation since the 8th century BC. Later it was occupied by groups that fought the first Incas of Cuzco and, once these were defeated, by the Incas themselves who built the city in the 15th century. Yes, we have already said it on other occasions speaking of the Incas, but we repeat it: the Inca civilization is not millenary, nor very old, the empire appeared in the middle of the 15th century and ended with the arrival of the conquerors, less than a century after.