Tourist attractions by accident (2)
Machu Picchu was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 and has become one of the most visited places on Earth.
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In fact, the overwhelming foot traffic has put the site under a serious threat of deterioration. But this place had been hidden from mankind for a long time.
During their conquests, the Spanish conquerors never found the site and as a consequence, it remained free of pillaging. Machu Picchu remained largely hidden to the public and it wasn’t rediscovered until American historian, Hiram Bingham, brought it to international attention in 1911.
Bingham stumbled upon the site while he was out exploring other areas of historical importance.
Situated on a mountain ridge 7,970 feet above sea level, this 15th-century Incan ruin is believed to have been built as an estate for the Inca Emperor, Pachacuti, who reigned from 1438 until 1472.
Machu Picchu was built in 1450 in the classic Incan style, with polished dry-stone walls.
It was abandoned only 100 years later; the relatively quick abandonment is attributed to a spread of smallpox, brought by travellers before the Spanish conquest, among the native population.
Ancient city of Pompeii, Italy
Pompeii was a thriving ancient Roman city near modern Naples, but it met its unfortunate demise after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. So destructive was the lava spouting from the volcano that the entire city was buried under 13 to 20 feet of ash.
The city is believed to have been founded around seventh or sixth century BC by the Osci people of Camapania, Italy, and at the time of its destruction, the population of Pompeii was around 11,000.
The city had a complex water system, an amphitheatre, a gymnasium and a port, which were all buried after the eruption.
The city remained hidden for over 1,500 years before its initial rediscovery in 1599, when some workers came upon the ancient walls while digging an underground canal.
Domenico Fontana, the architect heading the project, didn’t pay much attention to the discovery and ordered them to be re-buried.
Pompeii ultimately saw the light of day when a Spanish engineer named Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre stumbled upon the site in 1748.
The discoveries were astonishing; the thick ash had preserved the bodies of the inhabitants in their last acts before death came calling.
It also uncovered a plethora of artefacts and gloriously decorated frescoes.
Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Spanning 402 acres, the Angkor Wat temple complex holds the distinction of being the largest religious monument in the world.
Built in the early 12th century during the reign of King Suryavarman II, it served as a central religious site for the Khmer kingdom. Angkor Wat was dedicated to the Hindu deity, Vishnu.
The site once had a thriving population of 750,000 inhabitants but was eventually abandoned and remained dormant before it was accidentally discovered by Portuguese missionaries in the late 16th century.
To this day, the reason for the abandonment of the site has not been confirmed with certainty.
Angkor Wat has now become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its flag, and is one of the most visited tourist destinations in the world, with more than a million visitors every year.
Abu Simbel temples, Egypt
These are two massive rock temples at Abu Simbel, a village near Nubia in Southern Egypt, near the border with Sudan. The twin temples were carved out of mountains during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II in 13th century BC.
The temples were a dedication to himself and his queen, Nefertari; they were built to commemorate his victory at the Battle of Kadesh.
The two statues eventually got covered by sand. The temple was forgotten until 1813 when Jean-Louis Burckhardt found the top frieze of the main temple.
The tour guides at the site tell an apocryphal story of a boy named Abu Simbel guiding the explorers to the site. Eventually, the complex was named after him.
Threatened by the rising waters of the Nile River, the Abu Simbel temples were relocated from 1963 to 1968 to the plateau of Abu Simbel, where they attract a steady stream of visitors from across the globe.