On December 9, 1983, 41 years ago, the world surrendered to the unparalleled beauty of
Machu Picchu, the formidable Inca citadel built atop a mountain.
It was a key date that changed the international perspective on Peruvian culture and placed the Inca construction among the world's foremost archaeological sites.
On that day, during the Seventh Session of the
UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in Florence, Italy, the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu was declared a
"Cultural and Natural Heritage of Humanity."
It was stated that the "Inca City of the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu is the articulating center of its surroundings, a masterpiece of art, urbanism, architecture and engineering of the Inca Civilization. The working of the mountain, at the foot of the Huayna Picchu, is the exceptional result of integration with its environment, the result from a gigantic effort as if it were an extension of nature."
"It was probably the most amazing urban creation of the Inca Empire at its height; its giant walls, terraces and ramps seem as if they have been cut naturally in the continuous rock escarpments. The natural setting, on the eastern slopes of the Andes, encompasses the upper Amazon basin with its rich diversity of flora and fauna," it underlined.
UNESCO highlighted that the
construction of the site involved the transformation of a mountain, which, in addition to representing an immense effort, resulted in an exceptional integration with the environment, turning the human-made structure into an extension of nature.
It also stated that the citadel of Machu Picchu "is a unique testimony of the Inca Civilization and shows a well-planned distribution of functions within space, territory control, and social, productive, religious, and administrative organization."
In this regard, it emphasized that the "historic monuments and features in the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu are embedded within a dramatic mountain landscape of exceptional scenic and geomorphological beauty thereby providing an outstanding example of a longstanding harmonious and aesthetically stunning relationship between human culture and nature."
(END) MAO/MVB
Published: 12/9/2024