How Machu Picchu Was REALLY Built (No Iron, No Mortar)

How was Machu Picchu built? It gets about twice as much rain as Seattle and sits on earthquake fault lines, yet it has stood for about 600 years. In Episode 2 of our 7 Wonders series, we look at how the Inca really built it: hidden foundations and drainage (about half or more of the work is underground), layered terraces, a gravity-fed canal and 16 fountains, and granite walls fitted by hand with no mortar. We also check the myths: was it a "lost city"? Did Hiram Bingham discover it? Aliens? And was it even called Machu Picchu? Some scenes are artistic reconstructions and are labeled "Illustration." CHAPTERS 0:00 A city in the clouds 0:42 Where it is and who built it 2:01 Rain and earthquakes 2:23 The hidden work underground 3:45 Water from a mountain spring 4:29 How the stones were cut and fit 5:54 Built to ride out earthquakes 6:42 Myths: lost city, Bingham, aliens, the name 8:16 What happened to it 8:32 The real answer 9:02 Next in the 7 Wonders series Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre; Kenneth R. Wright & Alfredo Valencia Zegarra, "Machu Picchu: A Civil Engineering Marvel" (2000); Wright et al., Journal of Hydraulic Engineering (1997); Burger et al., Antiquity (2021); Amado Gonzales & Bauer, Nawpa Pacha (2021); Jean-Pierre Protzen, "Inca Architecture and Construction at Ollantaytambo" (1993). Music: "Careful palindromes (disquiet0344)" by Mesostic, CC0 (public domain dedication), via Wikimedia Commons. Voice: AI narration (Microsoft edge-tts, en-US-AndrewNeural). Images: AI-generated (Google Flow). Subscribe for the next episode of 7 Wonders on Built by Ancients. #MachuPicchu #7Wonders #History