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The story of the discovery of Machu Picchu is an interesting one. It was discovered by accident. Doctor Hiram Bingham from Yale University visited Peru in 1909 and wanted to find the town of Vilcabamba which appeared only sporadically on maps.  On a trip to Peru during a hike, he met locals who let him to the site now known as Machu Picchu.  He found the site breathtaking even though he didn’t recognize immediately that it wasn’t Vilcabama.  He shouldn’t have been disappointed though since the spectacular ruins of Macchu Picchu turned out to be a much more important discovery!