FlÃ¥m is a village in FlÃ¥msdalen, at the inner end of the Aurlandsfjordenâ€"a branch of Sognefjorden. The village is located in the municipality of Aurland in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway.

Name

The name Flåm is documented as early as 1340 as Flaam. It is derived from the plural dative form of the Old Norse word flá meaning "plain, flat piece of land", and it refers to the flood plains of the Flåm River. ("A plain between steep mountains" is the toponomy of the encyclopedia Store Norske Leksikon.)

History

In 1670 Flåm Church was built.

In 1923 the construction of the Flåm Line was financed by parliament. (In 1908, the decision to build the line was made.)

In 1942 ordinary operation of (steam powered) trains started on the Flåm Line.

"In the 1960s, cruise ships stayed on the fjord" [without reaching the port], according to Dagens Næringsliv.

In 2000, the "new pier" was referred to in a government document. ("The pier was built at the entrance to the new millennium", according to Dagens Næringsliv.)

Population

In 2014 its inhabitants numbered 350.

Transportation

The closest airport is Sogndal Airport, Haukåsen, approximately 70 kilometres from Flåm.

The European route E16 highway between Oslo and Bergen runs through Flåm.

The village is located along the European route E16 highway, about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) southwest of the municipal centre of Aurlandsvangen, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of the village of Undredal, and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of the village of Gudvangen (through the Gudvanga Tunnel).

The navvy road, Rallarvegen stretches from Myrdal down to Flåm. (Pedestrians and bicyclists still use it.) At Myrdal it connects with the navvy road for the previously built Bergen Line.

Tourism

The village of Flåm has since the late 19th century been a tourist destination. It currently receives almost 450,000 visitors a year. Most ride the 20-kilometre (12 mi) Flåm Line between Flåm and Myrdal, one of the steepest railway tracks at 1 in 18 (not counting rack railways) in the world. There are also a few spirals. A former rail station building in Flåm now houses a museum dedicated to the Flåm railway.

The harbour of Flåm receives some 160 cruise ships per year.

Complaints of- and suggested curbs on tourism

In a 2005 Bergens Tidende article Kjetil Smørås (a hotel director and chairman of Fjord Norge said that "The cruise traffic pollutes more than several ten thousands of cars, and many of the worst ships sail up here (...) cruise tourists trod down the pristine Norwegian nature, and destroy the foundation for Vestlandet's four entries on Unesco's World Heritage lists".

In 2009 Jens Riisnæs (an author and NRK journalist) said "We have the world's most beautiful nation, we don't need to follow cruise operators' premisser. They can go other places with their polluting ships. It is unwanted noise."

In 2009 Dagens Næringsliv said that a report by Vestlandsforskning says that both "Flåm and Geiranger are nearing a limit in capacity. It might be an alternative and rather stand forth as a «relaxed», exclusive and somewhat less of a mass tourism, cruise destination."

In a 2014 Dagens Næringsliv article a farmer said that "Previously the smell of summer was that of grass that had been cut. Now [the smell] it is [of] tungolje" ["heavy-oil"]. Furthermore, "They [a retired couple] talk about fish that has disappeared from the fjord. In Norway cruise ships are permitted to dump overboard their greywater in the postcard-narrow fjord-arms. Furthermore the news article says that defecation in public by tourists, is already a problem; the village has one public toilet, and 200 000 tourists are expected in the summer season.

In 2014 a professor i reiseliv (Arvid Viken) said that "it is about time this [type of] tourism is evalaluated somewhat more soberly, than the evaluations done in many municipalities for some years". Furthermore, this tourism "has low profit per tourist, but often it is associated with considerable costs for" the municipal administrations.

People

Flåm was the birthplace of the poet Per Sivle.

Media gallery

References

External links

• FlÃ¥m webcam
• Visit FlÃ¥m

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Machu Picchu (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmatʃu ˈpitʃu]) (Quechua: Machu Pikchu; [ˈmÉ'tʃu ˈpixtʃu]) is a 15th-century Inca citadel situated on a mountain ridge 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level. It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District in Peru, above the Sacred Valley, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows.

Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438â€"1472). Often mistakenly referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas" (a title more accurately applied to Vilcabamba), it is the most familiar icon of Inca civilization. The Incas built the estate around 1450 but abandoned it a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was not known to the Spanish during the colonial period and remained unknown to the outside world until American historian Hiram Bingham brought it to international attention in 1911.

Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary structures are the Inti Watana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of how they originally appeared. By 1976, thirty percent of Machu Picchu had been restored and restoration continues.

Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll.

Etymology

In the Quechua language, machu means "old" or "old person", while picchu means "peak; mountain or prominence with a broad base that ends in sharp peaks", hence the name of the site means "old peak".

History

Machu Picchu was built around 1450, at the height of the Inca. Its construction appears to date to the period of the two great Inca rulers, Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui (1438â€"71) and Túpac Inca Yupanqui (1472â€"93). It was abandoned just over 100 years later, in 1572, as a belated result of the Spanish Conquest. It is possible that most of its inhabitants died from smallpox introduced by travellers before the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the area.

Although it was located only about 80 kilometers (50 mi) from the Inca capital in Cusco, the Spanish never found Machu Picchu and so did not plunder or destroy it, as they did many other sites. The conquistadors had notes of a place called Piccho, although no record of a Spanish visit exists. The types of sacred rocks defaced by the conquistadors in other locations are untouched at Machu Picchu.

Over the centuries, the surrounding jungle overgrew the site, and few outside the immediate area knew of its existence. The site may have been discovered and plundered in 1867 by a German businessman, Augusto Berns. Some evidence indicates that German engineer J. M. von Hassel arrived earlier. Maps show references to Machu Picchu as early as 1874.

In 1911 American historian and explorer Hiram Bingham travelled the region looking for the old Inca capital and was shown to Machu Picchu by a local farmer. Bingham brought Machu Picchu to international attention and organized another expedition in 1912 to undertake major clearing and excavation. He returned in 1914 and 1915 to continue with excavation.

In 1981, Peru declared an area of 325.92 square kilometres (125.84 sq mi) surrounding Machu Picchu a "Historical Sanctuary". In addition to the ruins, the sanctuary includes a large portion of the adjoining region, rich with the flora and fauna of the Peruvian Yungas and Central Andean wet puna ecoregions.

In 1983, UNESCO designated Machu Picchu a World Heritage Site, describing it as "an absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilization".

First American expedition

Bingham was a lecturer at Yale University, although not a trained archaeologist. In 1909, returning from the Pan-American Scientific Congress in Santiago, he traveled through Peru and was invited to explore the Inca ruins at Choqquequirau in the Apurímac Valley. He organized the 1911 Yale Peruvian Expedition in part to search for the Inca capital, which was thought to be the city of Vitcos. He consulted Carlos Romero, a historian in Lima who showed him helpful references and Father Calancha’s Chronicle.

Armed with this information the expedition went down the Urubamba River. En route Bingham asked local people to show them Inca ruins. By the time they camped at Mandor Pampa, with Huayna Picchu 2000 feet above them on the opposite bank, they had already examined several ruins, but none fit the descriptions of Vitcos.

At Mandor Pampa, Bingham asked farmer and innkeeper Melchor Arteaga if he knew of any nearby ruins. Arteaga said he knew of excellent ruins on the top of Huayna Picchu. The next day, 24 July, Arteaga led Bingham and Sergeant Carrasco across the river on a log bridge and up the Huayna Picchu mountain. At the top of the mountain they came across a small hut occupied by a couple of Quechua, Richarte and Alvarez, who were farming some of the original Machu Picchu agricultural terraces that they had cleared four years earlier. Alvarez's 11-year-old son, Pablito, led Bingham along the ridge to the main ruins.

The ruins were mostly covered with vegetation except for the cleared agricultural terraces and clearings used by the farmers as vegetable gardens. Because of the vegetation Bingham was not able to observe the full extent of the site. He took preliminary notes, measurements and photographs, noting the fine quality of Inca stonework of several principal buildings. Bingham was unclear about the original purpose of the ruins, but decided that there was no indication that it matched the description of Vitcos.

The expedition continued down the Urubamba and up the Vilcabamba Rivers examining all the ruins they could find. Guided by locals Bingham rediscovered and correctly identified the site of the old Inca capital, Vitcos (then called Rosaspata), and the nearby temple of Chuquipalta. He then crossed a pass and into the Pampaconas Valley where he found more ruins heavily buried in the jungle undergrowth at Espíritu Pampa, which he named "Eromboni Pampa". As was the case with Machu Picchu, the site was so heavily overgrown that Bingham could only note a few of the buildings. In 1964, Gene Savoy further explored the ruins at Espiritu Pampa and revealed the full extent of the site, identifying it as Vilcabamba Viejo where the Incas fled after the Spanish drove them from Vitcos.

On the return of the expedition up the Urubamba River, Bingham sent two men to clear and map the site he referred to as Machu Picchu. As Bingham failed to identify the ruins at Espiritu Pampa as Vilcabamba Viejo, he erroneously theorized that Machu Picchu was Vilcabamba Viejo. Machu Picchu features spectacular workmanship and a dramatic site, while Vilcabamba was built while the short-lived remnant Neo-Inca State was being vanquished by the Spanish; it was built quickly and features crude workmanship.

Bingham returned to Machu Picchu in 1912 under the sponsorship of Yale University and National Geographic and with full support of Peruvian President Leguia. The expedition undertook a four-month clearing of the site with local labor, which was expedited with the support of the Prefect of Cuzco. Excavation started in 1912 with further excavation undertaken in 1914 and 1915. Bingham focused on Machu Picchu because of its fine Inca stonework and well-preserved nature, which had lain undisturbed since the site was abandoned. None of Bingham's several hypotheses explaining the site held up. During his studies, he carried various artifacts back to Yale. One prominent artifact was a set of 15th-century, ceremonial Incan knives made from bismuth bronze; they are the earliest known artifact containing this alloy.

Although local institutions initially welcomed the exploration, they soon accused Bingham of legal and cultural malpractice. Rumors arose that the team was stealing artifacts and smuggling them out of Peru through Bolivia. (In fact, Bingham removed many artifacts, but openly and legally; they were deposited in the Yale University Museum.) Local press perpetuated the accusations, claiming that the excavation harmed the site and deprived local archaeologists of knowledge about their own history. Landowners began to demand rent from the excavators. By the time Bingham and his team left Machu Picchu, locals had formed coalitions to defend their ownership of Machu Picchu and its cultural remains, while Bingham claimed the artifacts ought to be studied by experts in American institutions.

Human sacrifice and mysticism

Little information describes human sacrifices at Machu Picchu, though many sacrifices were never given a proper burial, and their skeletal remains succumbed to the elements. However, there is evidence that retainers were sacrificed to accompany a deceased noble in the afterlife. Animal, liquid and dirt sacrifices to the gods were much more common, made at the Altar of the Condor. The tradition is upheld by members of the New Age Andean religion.

Geography

Machu Picchu lies in the southern hemisphere, 13.164 degrees south of the equator. It is 80 kilometres (50 miles) northwest of Cusco, on the crest of the mountain Machu Picchu, located about 2,430 metres (7,970 feet) above mean sea level, over 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) lower than Cusco, which has an elevation of 3,600 metres (11,800 ft). As such, it had a milder climate than the Inca capital. It is one of the most important archaeological sites in South America, one of the most visited tourist attractions in Latin America and the most visited in Peru.

Machu Picchu has wet and dry seasons, with the majority of annual rain falling from October through to April.

Machu Picchu is situated above a bow of the Urubamba River, which surrounds the site on three sides, where cliffs drop vertically for 450 metres (1,480 ft) to the river at their base. The area is subject to morning mists rising from the river. The location of the city was a military secret, and its deep precipices and steep mountains provided natural defenses. The Inca Bridge, an Inca grass rope bridge, across the Urubamba River in the Pongo de Mainique, provided a secret entrance for the Inca army. Another Inca bridge was built to the west of Machu Picchu, the tree-trunk bridge, at a location where a gap occurs in the cliff that measures 6 metres (20 ft). It could be bridged by two tree trunks, but with the trees removed, there was a 570 metres (1,870 ft) fall to the base of the cliffs.

The city sits in a saddle between the two mountains Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu, with a commanding view down two valleys and a nearly impassable mountain at its back. It has a water supply from springs that cannot be blocked easily, and enough land to grow food for about four times as many people as ever lived there. The hillsides leading to it were terraced,to provide more farmland to grow crops, and to steepen the slopes that invaders would have to ascend. The terraces reduced soil erosion and protected against landslides. Two high-altitude routes from Machu Picchu cross the mountains back to Cusco, one through the sun gate, and the other across the Inca bridge. Both could be blocked easily, should invaders approach along them.

Site

Layout

The site is roughly divided into an urban sector and an agricultural sector, and into an upper town and a lower town. The temples are in the upper town, the warehouses in the lower.

The architecture is adapted to the mountains. Approximately 200 buildings are arranged on wide parallel terraces around an east-west central square. The various compounds, called kanchas, are long and narrow in order to exploit the terrain. Sophisticated channeling systems provided irrigation for the fields. Stone stairways set in the walls allowed access to the different levels across the site. The eastern section of the city was probably residential. The western, separated by the square, was for religious and ceremonial purposes. This section contains the Torreón, the massive tower which may have been used as an observatory.

Located in the first zone are the primary archaeological treasures: the Inti Watana, the Temple of the Sun and the Room of the Three Windows. These were dedicated to Inti, their sun god and greatest deity.

The Popular District, or Residential District, is the place where the lower-class people lived. It includes storage buildings and simple houses.

The royalty area, a sector for the nobility, is a group of houses located in rows over a slope; the residence of the amautas (wise persons) was characterized by its reddish walls, and the zone of the ñustas (princesses) had trapezoid-shaped rooms. The Monumental Mausoleum is a carved statue with a vaulted interior and carved drawings. It was used for rites or sacrifices.

The Guardhouse is a three-sided building, with one of its long sides opening onto the Terrace of the Ceremonial Rock. The three-sided style of Inca architecture is known as the wayrona style.

Inti Watana stone

The Inti Watana stone is one of many ritual stones in South America. These stones are arranged to point directly at the sun during the winter solstice. The name of the stone (perhaps coined by Bingham) derives from Quechua language: inti means "sun", and wata-, "to tie, hitch (up)". The suffix -na derives nouns for tools or places. Hence inti watana is literally an instrument or place to "tie up the sun", often expressed in English as "The Hitching Post of the Sun". The Inca believed the stone held the sun in its place along its annual path in the sky. The stone is situated at 13°9'48" S. At midday on 11 November and 30 January, the sun stands almost exactly above the pillar, casting no shadow. On 21 June, the stone casts the longest shadow on its southern side, and on 21 December a much shorter shadow on its northern side.

Inti Mach'ay and the Royal Feast of the Sun

Inti Mach'ay is a special cave used to observe the Royal Feast of the Sun. This festival was celebrated during the Incan month of Qhapaq Raymi. It began earlier in the month and concluded on the December solstice. On this day, noble boys were initiated into manhood by an ear-piercing ritual as they stood inside the cave and watched the sun rise.

Architecturally, Inti Mach'ay is the most significant structure at Machu Picchu. Its entrances, walls, steps and windows are some of the finest masonry in the Incan Empire. The cave also includes a tunnel-like window unique among Incan structures, which was constructed to only allow sunlight into the cave during several days around the December solstice. For this reason, the cave was inaccessible for much of the year. Inti Mach'ay is located on the eastern side of Machu Picchu, just north of the "Condor Stone." Many of the caves surrounding this area were prehistorically used as tombs, yet there is no evidence that Mach'ay was a burial ground.

Construction

The central buildings use the classical Inca architectural style of polished dry-stone walls of regular shape. The Incas were masters of this technique, called ashlar, in which blocks of stone are cut to fit together tightly without mortar.

The section of the mountain where Machu Picchu was built provided various challenges that the Incas solved with local materials. One issue was the seismic activity due to two fault lines. It made mortar and similar building methods nearly useless. Instead, the Inca mined stones from the quarry at the site, lined them up and shaped them to fit together perfectly, stabilizing the structures. Inca walls have many stabilizing features: doors and windows are trapezoidal, narrowing from bottom to top; corners usually are rounded; inside corners often incline slightly into the rooms; and outside corners were often tied together by "L"-shaped blocks; walls are offset slightly from row to row rather than rising straight from bottom to top.

Heavy rainfall required terraces and stone chips to drain rain water and prevent mud slides, landslides, erosion and flooding. Terraces were layered with stone chips, sand, dirt and top soil, to absorb water and prevent it from running down the mountain. Similar layering protected the large city center from flooding. Multiple canals and reserves provide water throughout the city that could be supplied to the terraces for irrigation and to prevent erosion and flooding.

The Incas never used wheels in a practical way, although its use in toys shows that they knew the principle. Its use in engineering may have been limited due to the lack of strong draft animals, steep terrain and dense vegetation. The approach to moving and placing the enormous stones remains uncertain, probably involving hundreds of men to push the stones up inclines. A few stones have knobs that could have been used to lever them into position; after which they were generally sanded away, with a few overlooked.

Roads and transportation

The Inca road system included a route to the Machu Picchu region. The people of Machu Picchu were connected to long-distance trade, as shown by non-local artifacts found at the site. For example, Bingham found unmodified obsidian nodules at the entrance gateway. In the 1970s, Burger and Asaro determined that these obsidian samples were from the Titicaca or Chivay obsidian source, and that the samples from Machu Picchu showed long-distance transport of this obsidian type in pre-Hispanic Peru.

Thousands of tourists walk the Inca Trail to visit Machu Picchu each year. They congregate at Cusco before starting on the one-, two-, four- or five-day journey on foot from Kilometer 82 (or 77 or 85, four/five-day trip) or Kilometer 104 (one/two-day trip) near the town of Ollantaytambo in the Urubamba valley, walking up through the Andes to the isolated city.

3D laser scanning of site

In 2005 and 2009, the University of Arkansas made detailed laser scans of the entire site and of the ruins at the top of the adjacent Huayna Picchu mountain. The scan data is available online for research purposes.

Threats

Tourism

Machu Picchu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, both cultural and natural. Since its discovery in 1911, growing numbers of tourists visit the site yearly, reaching 400,000 in 2000. As Peru's most visited tourist attraction and major revenue generator, it is continually exposed to economic and commercial forces. In the late 1990s, the Peruvian government granted concessions to allow the construction of a cable car and a luxury hotel, including a tourist complex with boutiques and restaurants and a bridge to the site. Many people protested the plans, including Peruvians and foreign scientists, saying that more visitors would pose a physical burden on the ruins. A no-fly zone exists above the area. UNESCO is considering putting Machu Picchu on its List of World Heritage in Danger.

During the 1980s a large rock from Machu Picchu's central plaza was moved to a different location to create a helicopter landing zone. In the 1990s, the government prohibited helicopter landings. In 2006, a Cusco-based company, Helicusco, sought approval for tourist flights over Machu Picchu. The resulting license was soon rescinded.

Authorities have struggled to maintain tourist safety. Tourist deaths have been linked to altitude sickness, floods and hiking accidents. UNESCO received criticism for allowing tourists at the location given high risks of landslides, earthquakes and injury due to decaying structures.

Nude tourism is a recent trend, to the dismay of Peruvian officials. In several incidents, tourists were detained for posing for nude pictures or streaking across the site. Peru's Ministry of Culture denounced these acts for threatening Peru's cultural heritage. Cusco's Regional Director of Culture increased surveillance to end the practice.

January 2010 evacuation

In January 2010, heavy rain caused flooding that buried or washed away roads and railways to Machu Picchu, trapping more than 2,000 locals and more than 2,000 tourists, later airlifted out. Machu Picchu was temporarily closed, reopening on 1 April 2010.

Entrance restrictions

In July 2011, the Dirección Regional de Cultura Cusco (DRC) introduced new entrance rules to the citadel of Machu Picchu. The tougher entrance rules attempted to reduce the effect of tourism. Entrance was limited to 2,500 visitors per day, and the entrance to Huayna Picchu (within the citadel) was further restricted to 400 visitors per day, in two time slots, at 7 and 10 AM.

In May 2012, a team of UNESCO conservation experts called upon Peruvian authorities to take "emergency measures" to further stabilize the site’s buffer zone and protect it from damage, particularly in the nearby town of Aguas Calientes, which had grown rapidly.

Cultural artifacts: Dispute between Peru and Yale University

In 1912, 1914 and 1915, Bingham removed thousands of artifacts from Machu Picchuâ€"ceramic vessels, silver statues, jewelry and human bonesâ€"and took them to Yale University for further study, supposedly for 18 months. Yale instead kept the artifacts until 2012, arguing that Peru lacked the infrastructure and systems to care for them. Eliane Karp, an anthropologist and wife of former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, accused Yale of profiting from Peru's cultural heritage. Many of the articles were exhibited at Yale's Peabody Museum.

In 2006, Yale returned some pieces but kept the rest, claiming this was supported by federal case law of Peruvian antiquities. On 19 September 2007, the Courant reported that Peru and Yale had agreed on the return of the artifacts. The agreement included a joint traveling exhibition and construction of a new museum and research center in Cusco advised by Yale. Yale acknowledged Peru's title to all the objects, but would share rights with Peru in the research collection, part of which would remain at Yale for continuing study. On 21 November 2010, Yale agreed to return the disputed artifacts. The third and final batch of artifacts was delivered November 2012. The artifacts are permanently exhibited at La Casa Concha ("The Shell House") close to Cusco's colonial center. Owned by the National University of San Antonio Abad del Cusco, La Casa Concha also features a study area for local and foreign students.

In media

The 1955 film Secret of the Incas by Paramount Pictures with Charlton Heston and Ima Sumac was filmed on location at Cusco and Machu Picchu, the first time that a major Hollywood studio filmed on site. Five hundred indigenous people were hired as extras in the film.

The opening sequence of the 1972 film Aguirre, the Wrath of God was shot in the Machu Picchu area and on the stone stairway of Huayna Picchu.

Machu Picchu was featured prominently in the 2004 film, The Motorcycle Diaries, a biopic based on the 1952 youthful travel memoir of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara.

The NOVA television documentary "Ghosts of Machu Picchu" presents an elaborate documentary on the mysteries of Machu Picchu.

Contemporary multimedia artist Kimsooja used Macchu Picchu as the primary setting for the first episode of her film series Thread Routes, shot in 2010.

The song "Kilimanjaro" from the 2010 South Indian Tamil film Enthiran was filmed in Machu Picchu. The sanction for filming was granted only after direct intervention from the Indian government.

Panoramic views

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Machu Picchu (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmatʃu ˈpitʃu]) (Quechua: Machu Pikchu; [ˈmÉ'tʃu ˈpixtʃu]) is a 15th-century Inca citadel situated on a mountain ridge 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level. It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District in Peru, above the Sacred Valley, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows.

Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438â€"1472). Often mistakenly referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas" (a title more accurately applied to Vilcabamba), it is the most familiar icon of Inca civilization. The Incas built the estate around 1450 but abandoned it a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was not known to the Spanish during the colonial period and remained unknown to the outside world until American historian Hiram Bingham brought it to international attention in 1911.

Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary structures are the Inti Watana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of how they originally appeared. By 1976, thirty percent of Machu Picchu had been restored and restoration continues.

Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll.

Etymology

In the Quechua language, machu means "old" or "old person", while picchu means "peak; mountain or prominence with a broad base that ends in sharp peaks", hence the name of the site means "old peak".

History

Machu Picchu was built around 1450, at the height of the Inca. Its construction appears to date to the period of the two great Inca rulers, Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui (1438â€"71) and Túpac Inca Yupanqui (1472â€"93). It was abandoned just over 100 years later, in 1572, as a belated result of the Spanish Conquest. It is possible that most of its inhabitants died from smallpox introduced by travellers before the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the area.

Although it was located only about 80 kilometers (50 mi) from the Inca capital in Cusco, the Spanish never found Machu Picchu and so did not plunder or destroy it, as they did many other sites. The conquistadors had notes of a place called Piccho, although no record of a Spanish visit exists. The types of sacred rocks defaced by the conquistadors in other locations are untouched at Machu Picchu.

Over the centuries, the surrounding jungle overgrew the site, and few outside the immediate area knew of its existence. The site may have been discovered and plundered in 1867 by a German businessman, Augusto Berns. Some evidence indicates that German engineer J. M. von Hassel arrived earlier. Maps show references to Machu Picchu as early as 1874.

In 1911 American historian and explorer Hiram Bingham travelled the region looking for the old Inca capital and was shown to Machu Picchu by a local farmer. Bingham brought Machu Picchu to international attention and organized another expedition in 1912 to undertake major clearing and excavation. He returned in 1914 and 1915 to continue with excavation.

In 1981, Peru declared an area of 325.92 square kilometres (125.84 sq mi) surrounding Machu Picchu a "Historical Sanctuary". In addition to the ruins, the sanctuary includes a large portion of the adjoining region, rich with the flora and fauna of the Peruvian Yungas and Central Andean wet puna ecoregions.

In 1983, UNESCO designated Machu Picchu a World Heritage Site, describing it as "an absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilization".

First American expedition

Bingham was a lecturer at Yale University, although not a trained archaeologist. In 1909, returning from the Pan-American Scientific Congress in Santiago, he traveled through Peru and was invited to explore the Inca ruins at Choqquequirau in the Apurímac Valley. He organized the 1911 Yale Peruvian Expedition in part to search for the Inca capital, which was thought to be the city of Vitcos. He consulted Carlos Romero, a historian in Lima who showed him helpful references and Father Calancha’s Chronicle.

Armed with this information the expedition went down the Urubamba River. En route Bingham asked local people to show them Inca ruins. By the time they camped at Mandor Pampa, with Huayna Picchu 2000 feet above them on the opposite bank, they had already examined several ruins, but none fit the descriptions of Vitcos.

At Mandor Pampa, Bingham asked farmer and innkeeper Melchor Arteaga if he knew of any nearby ruins. Arteaga said he knew of excellent ruins on the top of Huayna Picchu. The next day, 24 July, Arteaga led Bingham and Sergeant Carrasco across the river on a log bridge and up the Huayna Picchu mountain. At the top of the mountain they came across a small hut occupied by a couple of Quechua, Richarte and Alvarez, who were farming some of the original Machu Picchu agricultural terraces that they had cleared four years earlier. Alvarez's 11-year-old son, Pablito, led Bingham along the ridge to the main ruins.

The ruins were mostly covered with vegetation except for the cleared agricultural terraces and clearings used by the farmers as vegetable gardens. Because of the vegetation Bingham was not able to observe the full extent of the site. He took preliminary notes, measurements and photographs, noting the fine quality of Inca stonework of several principal buildings. Bingham was unclear about the original purpose of the ruins, but decided that there was no indication that it matched the description of Vitcos.

The expedition continued down the Urubamba and up the Vilcabamba Rivers examining all the ruins they could find. Guided by locals Bingham rediscovered and correctly identified the site of the old Inca capital, Vitcos (then called Rosaspata), and the nearby temple of Chuquipalta. He then crossed a pass and into the Pampaconas Valley where he found more ruins heavily buried in the jungle undergrowth at Espíritu Pampa, which he named "Eromboni Pampa". As was the case with Machu Picchu, the site was so heavily overgrown that Bingham could only note a few of the buildings. In 1964, Gene Savoy further explored the ruins at Espiritu Pampa and revealed the full extent of the site, identifying it as Vilcabamba Viejo where the Incas fled after the Spanish drove them from Vitcos.

On the return of the expedition up the Urubamba River, Bingham sent two men to clear and map the site he referred to as Machu Picchu. As Bingham failed to identify the ruins at Espiritu Pampa as Vilcabamba Viejo, he erroneously theorized that Machu Picchu was Vilcabamba Viejo. Machu Picchu features spectacular workmanship and a dramatic site, while Vilcabamba was built while the short-lived remnant Neo-Inca State was being vanquished by the Spanish; it was built quickly and features crude workmanship.

Bingham returned to Machu Picchu in 1912 under the sponsorship of Yale University and National Geographic and with full support of Peruvian President Leguia. The expedition undertook a four-month clearing of the site with local labor, which was expedited with the support of the Prefect of Cuzco. Excavation started in 1912 with further excavation undertaken in 1914 and 1915. Bingham focused on Machu Picchu because of its fine Inca stonework and well-preserved nature, which had lain undisturbed since the site was abandoned. None of Bingham's several hypotheses explaining the site held up. During his studies, he carried various artifacts back to Yale. One prominent artifact was a set of 15th-century, ceremonial Incan knives made from bismuth bronze; they are the earliest known artifact containing this alloy.

Although local institutions initially welcomed the exploration, they soon accused Bingham of legal and cultural malpractice. Rumors arose that the team was stealing artifacts and smuggling them out of Peru through Bolivia. (In fact, Bingham removed many artifacts, but openly and legally; they were deposited in the Yale University Museum.) Local press perpetuated the accusations, claiming that the excavation harmed the site and deprived local archaeologists of knowledge about their own history. Landowners began to demand rent from the excavators. By the time Bingham and his team left Machu Picchu, locals had formed coalitions to defend their ownership of Machu Picchu and its cultural remains, while Bingham claimed the artifacts ought to be studied by experts in American institutions.

Human sacrifice and mysticism

Little information describes human sacrifices at Machu Picchu, though many sacrifices were never given a proper burial, and their skeletal remains succumbed to the elements. However, there is evidence that retainers were sacrificed to accompany a deceased noble in the afterlife. Animal, liquid and dirt sacrifices to the gods were much more common, made at the Altar of the Condor. The tradition is upheld by members of the New Age Andean religion.

Geography

Machu Picchu lies in the southern hemisphere, 13.164 degrees south of the equator. It is 80 kilometres (50 miles) northwest of Cusco, on the crest of the mountain Machu Picchu, located about 2,430 metres (7,970 feet) above mean sea level, over 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) lower than Cusco, which has an elevation of 3,600 metres (11,800 ft). As such, it had a milder climate than the Inca capital. It is one of the most important archaeological sites in South America, one of the most visited tourist attractions in Latin America and the most visited in Peru.

Machu Picchu has wet and dry seasons, with the majority of annual rain falling from October through to April.

Machu Picchu is situated above a bow of the Urubamba River, which surrounds the site on three sides, where cliffs drop vertically for 450 metres (1,480 ft) to the river at their base. The area is subject to morning mists rising from the river. The location of the city was a military secret, and its deep precipices and steep mountains provided natural defenses. The Inca Bridge, an Inca grass rope bridge, across the Urubamba River in the Pongo de Mainique, provided a secret entrance for the Inca army. Another Inca bridge was built to the west of Machu Picchu, the tree-trunk bridge, at a location where a gap occurs in the cliff that measures 6 metres (20 ft). It could be bridged by two tree trunks, but with the trees removed, there was a 570 metres (1,870 ft) fall to the base of the cliffs.

The city sits in a saddle between the two mountains Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu, with a commanding view down two valleys and a nearly impassable mountain at its back. It has a water supply from springs that cannot be blocked easily, and enough land to grow food for about four times as many people as ever lived there. The hillsides leading to it were terraced,to provide more farmland to grow crops, and to steepen the slopes that invaders would have to ascend. The terraces reduced soil erosion and protected against landslides. Two high-altitude routes from Machu Picchu cross the mountains back to Cusco, one through the sun gate, and the other across the Inca bridge. Both could be blocked easily, should invaders approach along them.

Site

Layout

The site is roughly divided into an urban sector and an agricultural sector, and into an upper town and a lower town. The temples are in the upper town, the warehouses in the lower.

The architecture is adapted to the mountains. Approximately 200 buildings are arranged on wide parallel terraces around an east-west central square. The various compounds, called kanchas, are long and narrow in order to exploit the terrain. Sophisticated channeling systems provided irrigation for the fields. Stone stairways set in the walls allowed access to the different levels across the site. The eastern section of the city was probably residential. The western, separated by the square, was for religious and ceremonial purposes. This section contains the Torreón, the massive tower which may have been used as an observatory.

Located in the first zone are the primary archaeological treasures: the Inti Watana, the Temple of the Sun and the Room of the Three Windows. These were dedicated to Inti, their sun god and greatest deity.

The Popular District, or Residential District, is the place where the lower-class people lived. It includes storage buildings and simple houses.

The royalty area, a sector for the nobility, is a group of houses located in rows over a slope; the residence of the amautas (wise persons) was characterized by its reddish walls, and the zone of the ñustas (princesses) had trapezoid-shaped rooms. The Monumental Mausoleum is a carved statue with a vaulted interior and carved drawings. It was used for rites or sacrifices.

The Guardhouse is a three-sided building, with one of its long sides opening onto the Terrace of the Ceremonial Rock. The three-sided style of Inca architecture is known as the wayrona style.

Inti Watana stone

The Inti Watana stone is one of many ritual stones in South America. These stones are arranged to point directly at the sun during the winter solstice. The name of the stone (perhaps coined by Bingham) derives from Quechua language: inti means "sun", and wata-, "to tie, hitch (up)". The suffix -na derives nouns for tools or places. Hence inti watana is literally an instrument or place to "tie up the sun", often expressed in English as "The Hitching Post of the Sun". The Inca believed the stone held the sun in its place along its annual path in the sky. The stone is situated at 13°9'48" S. At midday on 11 November and 30 January, the sun stands almost exactly above the pillar, casting no shadow. On 21 June, the stone casts the longest shadow on its southern side, and on 21 December a much shorter shadow on its northern side.

Inti Mach'ay and the Royal Feast of the Sun

Inti Mach'ay is a special cave used to observe the Royal Feast of the Sun. This festival was celebrated during the Incan month of Qhapaq Raymi. It began earlier in the month and concluded on the December solstice. On this day, noble boys were initiated into manhood by an ear-piercing ritual as they stood inside the cave and watched the sun rise.

Architecturally, Inti Mach'ay is the most significant structure at Machu Picchu. Its entrances, walls, steps and windows are some of the finest masonry in the Incan Empire. The cave also includes a tunnel-like window unique among Incan structures, which was constructed to only allow sunlight into the cave during several days around the December solstice. For this reason, the cave was inaccessible for much of the year. Inti Mach'ay is located on the eastern side of Machu Picchu, just north of the "Condor Stone." Many of the caves surrounding this area were prehistorically used as tombs, yet there is no evidence that Mach'ay was a burial ground.

Construction

The central buildings use the classical Inca architectural style of polished dry-stone walls of regular shape. The Incas were masters of this technique, called ashlar, in which blocks of stone are cut to fit together tightly without mortar.

The section of the mountain where Machu Picchu was built provided various challenges that the Incas solved with local materials. One issue was the seismic activity due to two fault lines. It made mortar and similar building methods nearly useless. Instead, the Inca mined stones from the quarry at the site, lined them up and shaped them to fit together perfectly, stabilizing the structures. Inca walls have many stabilizing features: doors and windows are trapezoidal, narrowing from bottom to top; corners usually are rounded; inside corners often incline slightly into the rooms; and outside corners were often tied together by "L"-shaped blocks; walls are offset slightly from row to row rather than rising straight from bottom to top.

Heavy rainfall required terraces and stone chips to drain rain water and prevent mud slides, landslides, erosion and flooding. Terraces were layered with stone chips, sand, dirt and top soil, to absorb water and prevent it from running down the mountain. Similar layering protected the large city center from flooding. Multiple canals and reserves provide water throughout the city that could be supplied to the terraces for irrigation and to prevent erosion and flooding.

The Incas never used wheels in a practical way, although its use in toys shows that they knew the principle. Its use in engineering may have been limited due to the lack of strong draft animals, steep terrain and dense vegetation. The approach to moving and placing the enormous stones remains uncertain, probably involving hundreds of men to push the stones up inclines. A few stones have knobs that could have been used to lever them into position; after which they were generally sanded away, with a few overlooked.

Roads and transportation

The Inca road system included a route to the Machu Picchu region. The people of Machu Picchu were connected to long-distance trade, as shown by non-local artifacts found at the site. For example, Bingham found unmodified obsidian nodules at the entrance gateway. In the 1970s, Burger and Asaro determined that these obsidian samples were from the Titicaca or Chivay obsidian source, and that the samples from Machu Picchu showed long-distance transport of this obsidian type in pre-Hispanic Peru.

Thousands of tourists walk the Inca Trail to visit Machu Picchu each year. They congregate at Cusco before starting on the one-, two-, four- or five-day journey on foot from Kilometer 82 (or 77 or 85, four/five-day trip) or Kilometer 104 (one/two-day trip) near the town of Ollantaytambo in the Urubamba valley, walking up through the Andes to the isolated city.

3D laser scanning of site

In 2005 and 2009, the University of Arkansas made detailed laser scans of the entire site and of the ruins at the top of the adjacent Huayna Picchu mountain. The scan data is available online for research purposes.

Threats

Tourism

Machu Picchu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, both cultural and natural. Since its discovery in 1911, growing numbers of tourists visit the site yearly, reaching 400,000 in 2000. As Peru's most visited tourist attraction and major revenue generator, it is continually exposed to economic and commercial forces. In the late 1990s, the Peruvian government granted concessions to allow the construction of a cable car and a luxury hotel, including a tourist complex with boutiques and restaurants and a bridge to the site. Many people protested the plans, including Peruvians and foreign scientists, saying that more visitors would pose a physical burden on the ruins. A no-fly zone exists above the area. UNESCO is considering putting Machu Picchu on its List of World Heritage in Danger.

During the 1980s a large rock from Machu Picchu's central plaza was moved to a different location to create a helicopter landing zone. In the 1990s, the government prohibited helicopter landings. In 2006, a Cusco-based company, Helicusco, sought approval for tourist flights over Machu Picchu. The resulting license was soon rescinded.

Authorities have struggled to maintain tourist safety. Tourist deaths have been linked to altitude sickness, floods and hiking accidents. UNESCO received criticism for allowing tourists at the location given high risks of landslides, earthquakes and injury due to decaying structures.

Nude tourism is a recent trend, to the dismay of Peruvian officials. In several incidents, tourists were detained for posing for nude pictures or streaking across the site. Peru's Ministry of Culture denounced these acts for threatening Peru's cultural heritage. Cusco's Regional Director of Culture increased surveillance to end the practice.

January 2010 evacuation

In January 2010, heavy rain caused flooding that buried or washed away roads and railways to Machu Picchu, trapping more than 2,000 locals and more than 2,000 tourists, later airlifted out. Machu Picchu was temporarily closed, reopening on 1 April 2010.

Entrance restrictions

In July 2011, the Dirección Regional de Cultura Cusco (DRC) introduced new entrance rules to the citadel of Machu Picchu. The tougher entrance rules attempted to reduce the effect of tourism. Entrance was limited to 2,500 visitors per day, and the entrance to Huayna Picchu (within the citadel) was further restricted to 400 visitors per day, in two time slots, at 7 and 10 AM.

In May 2012, a team of UNESCO conservation experts called upon Peruvian authorities to take "emergency measures" to further stabilize the site’s buffer zone and protect it from damage, particularly in the nearby town of Aguas Calientes, which had grown rapidly.

Cultural artifacts: Dispute between Peru and Yale University

In 1912, 1914 and 1915, Bingham removed thousands of artifacts from Machu Picchuâ€"ceramic vessels, silver statues, jewelry and human bonesâ€"and took them to Yale University for further study, supposedly for 18 months. Yale instead kept the artifacts until 2012, arguing that Peru lacked the infrastructure and systems to care for them. Eliane Karp, an anthropologist and wife of former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, accused Yale of profiting from Peru's cultural heritage. Many of the articles were exhibited at Yale's Peabody Museum.

In 2006, Yale returned some pieces but kept the rest, claiming this was supported by federal case law of Peruvian antiquities. On 19 September 2007, the Courant reported that Peru and Yale had agreed on the return of the artifacts. The agreement included a joint traveling exhibition and construction of a new museum and research center in Cusco advised by Yale. Yale acknowledged Peru's title to all the objects, but would share rights with Peru in the research collection, part of which would remain at Yale for continuing study. On 21 November 2010, Yale agreed to return the disputed artifacts. The third and final batch of artifacts was delivered November 2012. The artifacts are permanently exhibited at La Casa Concha ("The Shell House") close to Cusco's colonial center. Owned by the National University of San Antonio Abad del Cusco, La Casa Concha also features a study area for local and foreign students.

In media

The 1955 film Secret of the Incas by Paramount Pictures with Charlton Heston and Ima Sumac was filmed on location at Cusco and Machu Picchu, the first time that a major Hollywood studio filmed on site. Five hundred indigenous people were hired as extras in the film.

The opening sequence of the 1972 film Aguirre, the Wrath of God was shot in the Machu Picchu area and on the stone stairway of Huayna Picchu.

Machu Picchu was featured prominently in the 2004 film, The Motorcycle Diaries, a biopic based on the 1952 youthful travel memoir of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara.

The NOVA television documentary "Ghosts of Machu Picchu" presents an elaborate documentary on the mysteries of Machu Picchu.

Contemporary multimedia artist Kimsooja used Macchu Picchu as the primary setting for the first episode of her film series Thread Routes, shot in 2010.

The song "Kilimanjaro" from the 2010 South Indian Tamil film Enthiran was filmed in Machu Picchu. The sanction for filming was granted only after direct intervention from the Indian government.

Panoramic views

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Regensburg (German pronunciation: [ˈʁeːɡŋ̍sbʊɐ̯k]; Latin: Castra-Regina, English: Ratisbon) is a city in south-east Germany, situated at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. With over 140,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the fourth-largest city in the State of Bavaria after Munich, Nuremberg and Augsburg. The city is the political, economic and cultural centre of Eastern Bavaria and the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate.

The medieval centre of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a testimony of the city's status as cultural centre of southern Germany in the Middle Ages. In 2014, Regensburg was among the top sights and travel attractions in Germany. Generally known in English as Ratisbon until well into the twentieth century, the city is known as Ratisbonne in French and as Ratisbona in Italian, Portuguese and Albanian.

History

Early history

The first settlements in Regensburg date from the Stone Age. The Celtic name Radasbona was the oldest given to a settlement near the present city. Around AD 90, the Romans built a fort there.

In 179, a new Roman fort Castra Regina ("fortress by the river Regen") was built for Legio III Italica during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It was an important camp on the most northerly point of the Danube: it corresponds to what is today the core of Regensburg's Old City or Altstadt east of the Obere and Untere Bachgasse and West of the Schwanenplatz. It is believed that as early as in late Roman times the city was the seat of a bishop, and St Boniface re-established the Bishopric of Regensburg in 739.

From the early 6th century, Regensburg was the seat of a ruling family known as the Agilolfings. From about 530 to the first half of the 13th century, it was the capital of Bavaria. Regensburg remained an important city during the reign of Charlemagne. In 792, Regensburg hosted the ecclesiastical section of Charlemagne's General Assembly, the bishops in council who condemned the heresy of adoptionism taught by their Spanish counterparts, Elipandus of Toledo and Felix of Urgel. After the partition of the Carolingian Empire in 843, the city became the seat of the Eastern Frankish ruler, Louis II the German. Two years later, fourteen Bohemian princes came to Regensburg to receive baptism there. This was the starting point of Christianization of the Czechs, and the diocese of Regensburg became the mother diocese of that of Prague. These events had a wide impact on the cultural history of the Czech lands, as they were consequently part of the Roman Catholic and not the Slavic-Orthodox world. A memorial plate at St John's Church (the alleged place of the baptism) was unveiled a few years ago, commemorating the incident in the Czech and German languages.

On 8 December 899 Arnulf of Carinthia, descendant of Charlemagne, died at Regensburg (known as Ratisbon at the time), Bavaria, Germany.

In 800 AD the city had 23,000 inhabitants and by 1000 AD this had almost doubled to 40,000 people.

In 1096, on the way to the First Crusade, Peter the Hermit led a mob of Crusaders that attempted to force the mass conversion of the Jews of Regensburg and killed all those who resisted.

Between 1135 and 1146, the Stone Bridge across the Danube was built at Regensburg. This bridge opened major international trade routes between northern Europe and Venice, and this began Regensburg's golden age as a residence of wealthy trading families. Regensburg became the cultural centre of southern Germany and was celebrated for its gold work and fabrics.

Middle Ages

In 1245 Regensburg became a Free Imperial City and was a trade centre before the shifting of trade routes in the late Middle Ages. At the end of the 15th century in 1486, Regensburg became part of the Duchy of Bavaria, but its independence was restored by the Holy Roman Emperor ten years later. The city adopted the Protestant Reformation in 1542 and its Town Council remained entirely Lutheran. From 1663 to 1806, the city was the permanent seat of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire, which became known as the Perpetual Diet of Regensburg. Thus, Regensburg was one of the central towns of the Empire, attracting visitors in large numbers.

A minority of the population remained Roman Catholic, and Roman Catholics were denied civil rights (Bürgerrecht). But the town of Regensburg must not be confused with the Bishopric of Regensburg. Although the Imperial city had adopted the Reformation, the town remained the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop and several abbeys. Three of the latter, St. Emmeram, Niedermünster and Obermünster, were estates of their own within the Holy Roman Empire, meaning that they were granted a seat and a vote at the Imperial Diet (Reichstag). So there was the unique situation that the town of Regensburg comprised five independent "states" (in terms of the Holy Roman Empire): the Protestant city itself, the Roman Catholic bishopric, and the three monasteries (mentioned previously). In addition, it was seen as the traditional capital of the region Bavaria (not the state), acted as functional co-capital of the Em pire (second to the Emperor's court at Vienna) due to the presence of the Perpetual Diet, and it was residence of the Emperor's Commissary-Principal to the same diet, who with one very brief exception was a prince himself (longstandingly the Prince Thurn and Taxis, still resident in the town).

Modern history

In 1803 the city lost its status as a free city, following its incorporation into the Principality of Regensburg. It was handed over to the Archbishop of Mainz and Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire Carl von Dalberg in compensation for Mainz, which had become French under the terms of the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801. The archbishopric of Mainz was formally transferred to Regensburg. Dalberg united the bishopric, the monasteries, and the town itself, making up the Principality of Regensburg (Fürstentum Regensburg). Dalberg strictly modernized public life. Most importantly, he awarded equal rights to Protestants and Roman Catholics alike. In 1810 Dalberg ceded Regensburg to the Kingdom of Bavaria, he himself being compensated by the award of Fulda and Hanau to him under the title of "Grand Duke of Frankfurt".

Between April 19 and April 23, 1809, Regensburg was the scene of the Battle of Ratisbon between forces commanded by Baron de Coutaud (the 65th Ligne) and retreating Austrian forces. The city was eventually overrun, after supplies and ammunition ran out. The city suffered severe damage during the fight, with about 150 houses being burnt and others being looted.

Nazism and World War II

Regensburg was home to both a Messerschmitt Bf 109 aircraft factory and an oil refinery, which were bombed by the Allies on August 17, 1943, by the Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission, and on February 5, 1945, during the Oil Campaign of World War II. Although both targets were badly damaged, Regensburg itself suffered little damage from the Allied strategic bombing campaign, and the nearly intact medieval city centre is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city's most important cultural loss was that of the Romanesque church of Obermünster, which was destroyed in a March 1945 air raid and was not rebuilt (the belfry survived). Also, Regensburg's slow economic recovery after the war ensured that historic buildings were not torn down, to be replaced by newer ones. When the upswing in restoration reached Regensburg in the late 1960s, the prevailing mindset had turned in favour of preserving the city's heritage.

History after 1945

Between 1945 and 1949, Regensburg was the site of the largest Displaced persons (DP) camp in Germany. At its peak in 1946â€"1947, the workers' district of Ganghofersiedlung housed almost 5,000 Ukrainian and 1,000 non-Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons. With the approval of U.S. Military Government in the American Allied Occupation Zone, Regensburg and other DP camps organised their own camp postal service. In Regensburg, the camp postal service began operation on December 11, 1946.

At the beginning of the 1960s, Regensburg invested a lot in technical and social infrastructure to attract industry. Siemens was the first multinational company to come to Regensburg, a milestone in the city's development after World War II. In 1965, Regensburg University was founded, Regensburg University of Applied Sciences was established in 1971. The second multinational company, BMW, came in 1986 to build up a large production plant. Since the 1990s, several well-known hightech companies are located in Regensburg, such as Infineon and OSRAM, contributing to the city's current wealth.

In 1997, Regensburg was awarded the Europe Prize for its outstanding achievements in european integration.

The World Heritage Committee listed Regensburg's Old Town a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2006. It is the largest medieval old town north of the Alps and very well preserved, dubbing it "Italy's most northern city". Close to the Stone Bridge, the city of Regensburg established a World Heritage Centre in the historic Salzstadl in 2007, where detailed information on Regensburg's 2000-year-old history is given.

Geography

Topography

Regensburg is situated on the northernmost part of the Danube river at the geological crossroads of four distinct landscapes:

• to the north and northeast lies the Bavarian Forest (Bayerischer Wald) with granite and gneiss mountains, wide forests and its national park
• to the east and south-east is the fertile Danube plain (Gäuboden) which are highly cultivated loess plains
• the south is dominated by the tertiary hill country (Tertiär-Hügelland), a continuation of Alpine foothills
• to the West is Franconian Jura (Fränkische Jura)

Climate

The climate in Regensburg is categorized in the Köppen climate classification as Dfb (humid continental). The average temperature of 8.5 °C (47.3 °F) is slightly above the German average (7.8 °C or 46.0 °F), the average precipitation of 636 millimetres (25.0 inches) per year below the German average (approximately 700 millimetres or 28 inches ). With a total of 1670 sunshine hours per year, Regensburg is roughly 120 hours above German average.

The warmest month of the year, on average, is July. The coolest month of the year, on average, is January.

Main sights

The city

Regensburg owns the largest medieval old town north of the Alps with nearly 1,500 listed buildings and a picturesque cityscape. Its most famous sights are located mainly in the Old Town, such as:

• The Dom (Cathedral) is an example of pure German Gothic and counts as the main work of Gothic architecture in Bavaria. It was founded in 1275 and completed in 1634, with the exception of the towers, which were finished in 1869. The interior contains numerous interesting monuments, including one of Peter Vischer's masterpieces. Adjoining the cloisters are two chapels of earlier date than the cathedral itself, one of which, known as the old cathedral, goes back perhaps to the 8th century. The official choir for the liturgical music at St Peter's Cathedral are the famous Regensburger Domspatzen.
• The stone bridge, built 1135â€"1146, is a highlight of medieval bridge building. The knights of the 2nd and 3rd crusade used it to cross the Danube on their way to the Holy Land.
• The Regensburg Sausage Kitchen is a major tourist destination, but locals eat there as well. It was originally built as the construction headquarters of the stone bridge and now lies adjacent to it.
• Remains of the Roman fortress' walls including the Porta Praetoria
• The Church of St. James, also called Schottenkirche, a Romanesque basilica of the 12th century, derives its name from the monastery of Irish Benedictines (Scoti) to which it was attached; the principal doorway is covered with very singular grotesque carvings. It stands next to the Jakobstor, a medieval city gate named after it.
• The old parish church of St. Ulrich is a good example of the Transition style of the 13th century, and contains a valuable antiquarian collection. It houses the diocesan museum for religious art.
• Examples of the Romanesque basilica style are the church of Obermünster, dating from 1010, and the abbey church of St. Emmeram, built in the 13th century, remarkable as one of the few German churches with a detached bell tower. The beautiful cloisters of the ancient abbey, one of the oldest in Germany, are still in a fair state of preservation. In 1809 the conventual buildings were converted into a palace for the prince of Thurn and Taxis, hereditary postmaster-general of the Holy Roman Empire.
• The Adler-Apotheke, located nearby the Regensburg Cathedral, was founded in 1610 and is one of the oldest Pharmacies in Regensburg. Even today you can take a look at the ancient interior and historical vessels.
• Wealthy patrician families competed against each other to see who would be able to build the highest tower of the city. In 1260, the Goldener Turm (golden tower) was built on Wahlenstraße.
• The Old Town Hall, dating in part from the 14th century, contains the rooms occupied by the Imperial diet from 1663 to 1806.
• A historical interest is also attached to the Gasthof zum Goldenen Kreuz (Golden Cross Inn), where Charles V made the acquaintance of Barbara Blomberg, the mother of Don John of Austria (born 1547).
• Perhaps the most pleasant modern building in the city is the Gothic villa of the king of Bavaria on the bank of the Danube.
• Among the public institutions of the city are the public library, picture gallery, botanical garden, and the institute for the making of stained glass. The city's colleges (apart from the University of Regensburg) include an episcopal clerical seminary, and a school of church music.
• St. Emmeram's Abbey, now known as Schloss Thurn und Taxis, is a huge castle owned by the powerful Thurn and Taxis family.
• The City Park, the oldest and largest park in Regensburg with a lot of artwork
• The Botanischer Garten der Universität Regensburg is a modern botanical garden located on the University of Regensburg campus.
• Herzogspark also contains several small botanical gardens.

The surrounding

Near Regensburg there are two very imposing Classical buildings, erected by Ludwig I of Bavaria as national monuments to German patriotism and greatness:

• The more imposing of the two is the Walhalla, a costly reproduction of the Parthenon, erected as a Teutonic temple of fame on a hill rising from the Danube at Donaustauf, 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) to the east. The interior, which is as rich as coloured marble, gilding, and sculptures can make it, contains the busts of more than a hundred Germanic worthies
• The second of King Ludwig's buildings is the Befreiungshalle at Kelheim, 25 kilometres (16 miles) above Regensburg, a large circular building which has for its aim the glorification of the heroes of the 1813 War of Liberation

Besides, there is the famous Weltenburg Abbey (Kloster Weltenburg), a Benedictine monastery in Weltenburg near Kelheim on the Danube. The abbey is situated on a peninsula in the Danube, on the so-called "Weltenburg Narrows" or the "Danube Gorge". The monastery, founded by Irish or Scottish monks in about 620, is held to be the oldest monastery in Bavaria.

To the east of Regensburg lies the Bavarian Forest with its National Park, one of the most visited protected areas in Germany.

Culture

Museums and exhibitions

Altogether Regensburg is home to 20 museums. Among the most prominent museums are for instance the Regensburg Museum of History which shows history, culture and arts of Regensburg and Eastern Bavaria from stone age to present. Then there is the Imperial diet museum (Reichstagsmuseum) in the Old Town Hall describing the life during the Holy Roman Empire. Its main attractions are an original torture chamber and the Reichssaal, the rooms occupied by the Imperial diet from 1663 to 1806. The Kepler Memorial House (Keplergedächtnishaus) illustrates the life of the famous astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler. The Municipal Art Gallery Leerer Beutel offers art collections, film events and cultural festivals. Over the last years, the city added several outdoor museums to its cultural landscape, the so-called document sites. These give an overview on specific topics such as Roman, Jewish and Bavarian history.

Besides, there are the diocese museums (Bistumsmuseen) of Regensburg and a branch of the Bavarian National Museum located in the St. Emmeram's Abbey, which contains the Princely Treasure Chamber of the family Thurn and Taxis. The Domschatzmuseum where church treasures, monstrances and tapestries are displayed is in St. Peter's Cathedral. Other museums are the Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie, the Naturkundemuseum Ostbayern, the reptile zoo, the Regensburg Museum of Danube Shipping (Donau-Schiffahrts-Museum), the Public Observatory Regensburg as well as the watch museum (Uhrenmuseum), the golf museum, the post museum and the Dinoraeum. To celebrate its centenary, the State of Bavaria will open the museum of Bavarian history in Regensburg in May, 2018. Besides, there are guided tours in most of the historical monuments of Regensburg, as well as organized tourist tours through the city available in several languages.

Theaters

The Regensburg Theater at the Bismarckplatz is 200 years old and is the most important theater of the city. Operas, operettas, musicals and ballets are shown. In summer, open-air performances are carried out as well. With the theater at the Bismarckplatz as the oldest and largest one, the Regensburg theater has four other stages with programmes that complement each other: in the Neuhaussaal of the theater at the Bismarckplatz, concerts by the Philharmonic Orchestra Regensburg take place. The Velodrom Theater presents musicals and plays. In the Haidplatz Theater mainly literary and modern plays are performed, whereas the Turmtheater at the Goliathplatz shows modern plays as well, but also cabarets, musicals and plays for children.

Music

Regensburg is home to the famous Regensburger Domspatzen. Since 2003 there are the Regensburger Schlossfestspiele in the inner courtyard of the St. Emmeram's Abbey every July, sponsored by the Princely Family of Thurn und Taxis. Meanwhile, those were attracting musicians like Elton John, David Garrett, Tom Jones or Plácido Domingo. Modern music styles, especially Jazz, are presented every summer during the Bavarian Jazz weekend. All over the Old Town, over hundred bands, combos and soloists are performing. In 2015, the House of Music was opened, giving home to skilled musicians and their education.

Film and cinema

The international short film season is hosted annually in Regensburg. It is a non-profit event and takes place every March, being one of the most important of its type in Germany. Aside, there are several cinemas, such as CinemaxX, the largest one showing blockbusters and arthouse films, and smaller independent cinemas such as Garbo, Ostentor Kino and Regina Filmtheater. Regensburg has two open air cinemas as well.

Buildings

The Old Town of Regensburg with nearly 1,500 listed buildings offers a huge cultural diversity from Roman to modern times.

Recreation

The Old Town of Regensburg is surrounded completely by a green belt. Numerous inner-city parks like the City Park (Stadtpark), the Herzogspark, the Dörnbergpark, the Villapark or the university's botanical garden are a source for recreation and leisure.

Memorial sites

The city of Regensburg erected several memorials to combat racism, intolerance towards minorities and all other forms of contempt for human dignity:

• Memorial for the victims of the Holocaust
• Memorial for the victims of euthanasy
• Memorial for concentration camp and war prisoners
• Memorial for violence against women

A specific in Regensburg are the so-called Stolpersteine (stumbling blocks) in honor of deported Jews during Nazism.

Events

Twice a year takes place the Regensburg Dult, the city's Volksfest, which is Bavaria's fourth largest. The Bürgerfest (citizen celebration) in the Old Town is every two years, attracting over 100,000 visitors. Every second weekend in July, knights and other medieval people come together at the Regensburg Spectaculum, a medieval market, on the Stone Bridge. Every December, there are several Christmas markets all over the city.

Nightlife

With over 500 bars, restaurants, clubs and other locations merely in the inner city, Regensburg provides a rich and diverse nightlife due to its young population.

Demographics

Population

In 2013, Regensburg had 140,276 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in Bavaria. Over the last hundred years, the city has experienced a strong increase in population, surpassing 100,000 inhabitants in 1945 due to Germans who were ethnically cleansed from eastern parts of the Third Reich, especially from the Sudetenland. Today, Regensburg is one of fastest growing cities in Germany and is supposed to reach 150,000 inhabitants in the near future.

International communities

Nearly 12% of the total population are foreign residents. Most of them come from Turkey and Central and Eastern Europe:

Religion

A majority of Regensburg's population is Roman Catholic. In 2013, about 56.5% of the city's inhabitants identified with the Roman Catholic Church, 14.0% were registered Protestants and about 29.5% identified with other religions or did not have any registered religious affiliation.

Politics

Government

The Lord Mayor and the City Council are elected for a period of six years. Both elections take place at the same time. The City Council is composed of 51 members and includes the Lord Mayor, two deputy mayors, five counsellors and the other council members.

The municipal elections in Bavaria of 2014 delivered the following results:

After 18 years of a City Council with conservative majority, the social-democratic candidate, Joachim Wolbergs, became Lord Mayor in Mai 2014.

Boroughs

Regensburg is subdivided into 18 boroughs (Stadtbezirke). Each borough contains a number of localities (Ortsteile), which can have historic roots in older municipalities that became urbanized and incorporated into the city.

Twin towns â€" Sister cities

Regensburg is twinned with:

Economy

Regensburg's economy counts among the most dynamic and fastest growing in Germany. Focus is on manufacturing industries, such as automotive, industrial and electrical engineering.

Companies

There are several multinational corporations located in Regensburg, such as BMW, Continental, E.ON, General Electric, Infineon, Osram, Schneider Electric, Siemens, Telekom and Toshiba as well as hidden champions (Krones, MR).

BMW operates an automobile production plant in Regensburg; the Regensburg BMW plant produces 3-series, 1-series and Z4 vehicles. Continental AG, with the headquarters of its car component business, Osram Opto-Semiconductors and Siemens as well as Infineon, the former Siemens semiconductor branch, provide a high level of innovation and technical development in Regensburg. Other well known international companies, such as AREVA, Schneider Electric and Toshiba, have built plants in or near Regensburg. GE Aviation founded a greenfield site to innovate, develop and produce turbinemachinery components with a new manufacturing casting technology. Amazon.com located its first German customer service centre in Regensburg. The hidden champions Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen (MR) and Krones both are headquartered in Regensburg and are among the major employeurs.

Aside from the industrial sector, tourism contributes a lot to Regensburg's economical growth, especially since 2006, when the city gained status as UNESCO World Heritage site. The University of Regensburg, the Regensburg University of Applied Sciences and mercantile trade also play major roles in Regensburg's economy. Increasingly, biotech companies were founded in Regensburg over the last two decades and have their headquarters and laboratories in the city's "BioPark". Another focus is on information technology, with the city running a start-up centre for IT firms. One of these former start-ups, CipSoft GmbH, now is a known video game company still based in Regensburg.

OTTI, the Eastern Bavaria Technology Transfer-Institut e.V., is headquartered in Regensburg.

Tourism

The city recorded 912,238 overnight hotel stays and 531,943 hotel guests in 2012. Tourism figures have nearly doubled within the last 15 years and Regensburg has become one of the most-visited German cities from 100,000 to 500,000 residents. In 2014, Regensburg was ranked as a Top-30 travel attraction in Germany by international tourists.

Infrastructure

Transport

Regensburg Hauptbahnhof (central station) is connected to lines to Munich, Nuremberg, Passau, Hof and Ingolstadt and Ulm. The city lies also on two motorways, the A3 from Cologne and Frankfurt to Vienna, and the A93 from Holledau to Hof.

The local transport is provided by a bus network run by the RVV (Regensburger Verkehrsverbund).

Energy

Regensburg's energy is mainly supplied by the German company E.ON, one of the world's largest electric utility service providers. Its subsidiary Bayernwerk runs the local hydropower station in the Danube River. In 2012, about 9,1% of the total electricity consumption was generated by renewable energy sources, about 5,1% of the total heat consumption were generated by renewables. Both figures show, that Regensburg is behind other Bavarian cities in this context. Therefore, the municipal government presented an energy plan in 2014, which should enhance the transformation towards renewable energy sources over the next decade.

Health

Regensburg hosts one of the most modern university hospitals in Europe, the Universitätsklinikum Regensburg. Aside, there are several other renowned hospitals such as the Krankenhaus Barmherzige Brüder and the St. Josef-Krankenhaus. In the Bezirksklinikum, mental diseases are treated. With 19,4 hospital beds per 1000 residents, Regensburg owns the fourth highest density of beds per residents in Germany. Concerning medical doctors per residents, Regensburg obtains the third place in Germany (339 per 100,000 residents).

The city's BioPark, representing Bavaria's second largest biotech cluster, hosts numerous research institutions and biotech companies.

Education

Universities and academia

Regensburg is known for its institutions of higher education. The biggest of those is the University of Regensburg. Founded in 1962, it is one of Germany's youngest institutions and ranked among the Top 400 universities worldwide. Among the prominent thinkers associated with the institution are Pope Benedict XVI, Udo Steiner and Wolfgang Wiegard. The campus is situated in one area together with the Regensburg University of Applied Sciences.

Since 1874 there has been a College of Catholic Music, the Hochschule für Katholische Kirchenmusik und Musikpädagogik Regensburg.

Research

In addtition to the research centres and institutes of the universities, there are several research institutions situated in the city of Regensburg. Among them are the Leibniz-Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS), the Regensburg Centre for Interventional Immunology (RCI), the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine (ITEM) and the BioPark, the Bavarian biotech cluster.

Schools

Regensburg is home to 18 elementary schools. There are several institutions of secondary education, both public and private, representing all levels of the German school system. There are eight Gymnasiums in Regensburg, five Realschule, six Hauptschule and four vocational schools (the so-called Berufsschule). In addition, there are several folk high schools with different specialisations. Aside, there is the Swiss International School which is offering families an international educational infrastructure.

Sports

Football

SSV Jahn Regensburg is the local football club and attracts a fairly large local following. The team was part of a larger sports club founded in 1889 as Turnerbund Jahn Regensburg which took its name from Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, whose ideas of gymnastics greatly influenced German sport in the 19th century. The football department was created in 1907. The footballers and swimmers left their parent club in 1924 to form Sportbund Jahn Regensburg.

Ice hockey

EV Regensburg is the local ice hockey club, currently playing in the Oberliga Süd, Germany's third highest professional league.

Baseball

Regensburg Legionäre is the baseball and softball club from Regensburg. The team is also known as Buchbinder Legionäre, following a sponsorship of the Buchbinder company. The club is playing in the German Bundesliga and is one of the most famous and most successful baseball clubs in Germany. Several players now playing in the MLB formerly played at the club. Its arena, Armin-Wolf-Arena, was built in 1996 and has a capacity of 10,000 spectators, making it to Germany's largest baseball stadium.

Athletics

The local athletics club, LG TELIS FINANZ Regensburg, offers a wide range of different competitions and is counted among the most successful clubs in Germany.

Notable residents

• Pope Benedict XVI, professor of theology at the University of Regensburg from 1969 to 1977, who retains the title, honorary professor; he is not a former resident of the city of Regensburg, but his house, less than 1 kilometer from the city, lies in Pentling in the district of Regensburg. He has been an honorary citizen since 2006.
• The Princely House of Thurn und Taxis, a German noble family and one of Europe's largest landowners
• Albrecht Altdorfer (printmaker, painter of landscapes, historical and Biblical subjects of the Renaissance)
• Willie Duncan (Spider Murphy Gang)
• Ulrich Eberl, science and technology journalist
• The Rev. Dr. Franz Xaver Haberl, one of the most important Roman Catholic musicians in history, teacher of Perosi (see also Cecilian Movement)
• Johannes Kepler (mathematician and astronomer)
• Konrad of Megenberg, scholar and academic
• Simone Laudehr (German national team footballer, women's world cup champion 2007)
• Albertus Magnus (13th century polymath)
• Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg, a 12thâ€"13th century rabbi and mystic, founder of Chassidei Ashkenaz
• Maximilian Oberst, physician who introduced the Oberst method of block anesthesia
• Petachiah of Ratisbon, a 12thâ€"13th century rabbi, best known for his extensive travels throughout Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the Middle East.
• Hisham Zreiq - (born 1968), award-winning Palestinian Christian Independent filmmaker, poet and visual artist.
• Walter Röhrl (racing driver)
• Saint Emmeram, Christian bishop and a martyr, St. Emmeram's Abbey
• Andrea Maria Schenkel, best-selling author of Tannöd and other works.
• Emanuel Schikaneder (Librettist of The Magic Flute)
• Oskar Schindler (1908â€"1974), German industrialist (after World War II until his emigration to Argentina)
• Ulrich Schmidl (supposed co-founder of Buenos Aires)
• Anton Vilsmeier, (1894â€"1962), German chemist best known for the Vilsmeier-Haack reaction, born in Burgweinting, which is now part of Regensburg, and attended the Altes Gymnasium in Regensburg
• Charles von Hügel, (1795â€"1870), Austrian army officer, diplomat, botanist, and explorer
• Ulrich of Zell, a Cluniac reformer of Germany, abbot, founder and saint
• Wolfgang of Regensburg, Bishop of Regensburg
• Elisabeth Elli Erl, winner of German Pop Idol 2004 â€" singer and teacher at a German secondary school in Düsseldorf
• Ludwig Bemelmans, (1898â€"1962), Austro-Hungarian born American writer of children's books and internationally renowned gourmet, spent his early life in Regensburg

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