Temple of the Moon, Machu Picchu, Peru.

At Machu Picchu, Peru, the Incas crafted the Temple of the Moon as a wall of doors and windows fitting perfectly under a giant overhanging rock. The summit of Huayna Picchu is normally a two-hour walk (1.9 kilometers round-trip). The easiest way to visit the Temple of the Moon is to retrace your steps down from Huayna Picchu and take the marked trail turnoff halfway down, which leads directly to the alcove, adding about 12 hours round trip. Many local names are arbitrary, non-Inca inventions, including the "Temple of the Moon." Machu Picchu was built around 1450 AD as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (14381472). Spaniards passed in the river valley below but never discovered Machu Picchu during their conquest of the Incas 1532-1572. The outside world was unaware of the "Lost City of the Incas" until revealed by American historian Hiram Bingham in 1911. Machu Picchu perches at 2430 meters elevation (7970 feet) on a well defended ridge 450 meters (1480 ft) above a loop of the Urubamba/Vilcanota River (Sacred Valley of the Incas) in the Cordillera Vilcabamba, Andes mountains, Peru, South America. UNESCO honored the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu on the World Heritage List in 1983.

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Copyright: © Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com
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Contained in galleries: PERU: Machu Picchu, Inca Trail trek

At Machu Picchu, Peru, the Incas crafted the Temple of the Moon as a wall of doors and windows fitting perfectly under a giant overhanging rock. The summit of Huayna Picchu is normally a two-hour walk (1.9 kilometers round-trip). The easiest way to visit the Temple of the Moon is to retrace your steps down from Huayna Picchu and take the marked trail turnoff halfway down, which leads directly to the alcove, adding about 12 hours round trip. Many local names are arbitrary, non-Inca inventions, including the "Temple of the Moon." Machu Picchu was built around 1450 AD as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (14381472). Spaniards passed in the river valley below but never discovered Machu Picchu during their conquest of the Incas 1532-1572. The outside world was unaware of the "Lost City of the Incas" until revealed by American historian Hiram Bingham in 1911. Machu Picchu perches at 2430 meters elevation (7970 feet) on a well defended ridge 450 meters (1480 ft) above a loop of the Urubamba/Vilcanota River (Sacred Valley of the Incas) in the Cordillera Vilcabamba, Andes mountains, Peru, South America. UNESCO honored the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu on the World Heritage List in 1983.