MACHU PICCHU
The stone walls of Machu Picchu were erected (heh heh) on a mountainside in Peru during the 15th century. There’s debate as to whether the “Lost City of the Incas” was an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti, or just a spot where people went to pray and get a wicked suntan. Something else that’s unclear is why people bolted. It could have been a smallpox outbreak, a lack of water, or to escape the Spanish conquistadors. Whatever the reason, the place emptied out sometime after 1540. And it remained vacant until an American treasure hunter rediscovered it in 1911. To his surprised, many of the structures were still in relatively good condition.
