環球之旅:十大懷古聖地之希臘雅典衛城

Machu Picchu, the "Lost City of the Incas", as it was dubbed by the man who rediscovered it in the last century, is among the greatest tourist attractions in South America today and ranks among the most outstanding symbols in the Andean legendary Inca settlement of Machu Picchu has become one of the world's iconic areas. Its haunting aura is enhanced by the mystery surrounding its use and u Picchu is a manmade masterpiece blends into nature in the Andes.

馬丘比丘在上個世紀被再度發掘出來，發掘者稱之爲“印加失落之城”，它是當今南美頂級旅遊勝地之一，是安第斯多種文明中最爲耀眼的象徵之一。傳說中的馬丘比丘印加沉降已成爲世界的標誌性地區之一。它的使用和廢棄深了它神祕的光環。被稱爲與安第斯的大自然融爲一體的人工傑作。

The ancient city of Machu Picchu attracts visitors from all over the world. Historians believe the Inca began building Machu Picchu around the 1450s, but because they left no written records behind, no one knows exactly what their purpose was. Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its primary buildings are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows.

馬丘比丘古城吸引了來自世界各地的遊客。歷史學家認爲，印加人在1450年始圍繞馬丘比丘，而是因爲他們沒有留下任何文字記載的背後，沒有人確切地知道他們的目的是什麼。馬丘比丘的建築具有印加傳統風格，拋光幹石牆。其主要建築有Intihuatana，太陽廟，以及三窗戶的房間。

Johan Reinhard (Archaeologist): The Inca royal family would go there for different kinds of ceremonies,and we do know that the Incas had a very strong ritual element there. There are some who think that maybe it was just a retreat. They went there to have a nice, you know, retreat from all the hubbub of the capital city of Cuzco. But within a hundred years after the Inca began building this impressive city, they started to abandon it.

約翰萊因哈德（考古學家）認爲：印加王室成員將前往那裏進行各種不同的儀式，因爲我們知道，在古代的印加，有一個非常強烈的宗教元素的存在。還有一些人認爲，也許這裏只是一個休養的靜所。他們去那裏逃避所有的喧譁，躲避戰亂。但在開始建設這個城市之後一百年，他們又放棄了這個令人印象深刻的印加城市。

Reinhard: Machu Picchu was probably abandoned or began to be abandoned already before the Spanish came, and that’s because around 1525 there was a civil war. After the Spanish arrived seven years later, in 1532, the Inca deliberately burned the forest around Machu Picchu. They burned it because the foliage re-grows and completely covers it and made it virtually impassable.

萊因哈德：在西班牙人來之前，馬丘比丘就可能已經被遺棄或即將被放棄，這是因爲1525年左右有一個內戰。西班牙人到達後七年後的1532年，印加人故意燒了馬丘比丘周圍的森林。他們焚燒樹葉，因爲它重新增長和完全覆蓋它，使它幾乎不可逾越。

Perhaps, thanks to the Inca’s efforts to hide the city, the Spanish never found Machu Picchu. It was lost to the wider world until geographer Hiram Bingham rediscovered it in 1983, Machu Picchu was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As archaeologists learn more about what happened here, new questions continue to arise, guaranteeing that Machu Picchu will remain a place of mystery for years to come.

或許，應該感謝印加爲隱藏這個城市而做出的努力，西班牙從未發現馬丘比丘。馬丘比丘成爲失落的城市，直到地理學家海勒姆賓厄姆在1911年重新發現這裏。1983年，馬丘比丘被聯合國教科文組織命名爲世界遺產。作爲考古學家瞭解這裏發生的事情更多，新的問題繼續出現，馬丘比丘將在未來幾年保持它神祕的面貌。