【答案解析】Machu Picchu, the "lost city" located in Peru"s tropical mountain forest. Wasn"t discovered by American explorer Hiram Bingham until 1911. It stands 2,430 meters above the sea level, surrounded by the tropical mountain forest. It was probably the most amazing urban creation of the Inca Empire at its height; its giant walls and terraces seem as if they have been cut naturally in the continuous cliffs. The ancient city, on the eastern slopes of the Andes, surrounds the upper Amazon Basin. The ruins of Machu Picchu are one of the most beautiful and mysterious ancient cites in the world. While the Inca people erected hundreds of stone structures there from the early 1400"s, legends and myths indicate that Machu Picchu was a sacred place. The ruins have palaces, baths, temples, storage rooms and some 150 houses, all in a remarkable state of preservation. These structures, carved from the gray granite of the mountain top, are wonders of both architectural and aesthetic genius.