The World's Most Famous Ruin Has the Wrong Name

The ancient Inca citadel perched in the Peruvian Andes has welcomed over a million visitors a year and appeared on the covers of countless travel magazines. There is one thing almost everyone gets wrong about it - its name.

The Explorer Who Changed Everything

When American historian and explorer Hiram Bingham III climbed into the Andes in July 1911, a local farmer guided him to a set of ancient ruins hidden in the clouds. Bingham asked what the place was called. The first answer was Huayna Picchu. A second local guide later offered a different name, and Bingham used that second name in his field notes and published reports. He also brought the site to global attention through a National Geographic Magazine feature in April 1913, cementing the name "Machu Picchu" in the public imagination.

What the Documents Actually Show

A study published in Nawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Archaeology re-examined this history. Co-written by Donato Amado Gonzales, a historian at Peru's Ministry of Culture in Cusco, and Brian S. Bauer, an archaeologist at the University of Illinois Chicago, the paper traced every relevant document the researchers could find. A 1904 atlas - published seven years before Bingham arrived - already showed the ruins under the name Huayna Picchu. A Spanish account from 1588 described indigenous people in the region discussing a return to a place they called Huayna Picchu. Bingham's own field notes recorded that locals gave him the name Huayna Picchu during both his 1911 and 1912 visits to the area.

Two Mountains, One Mix-Up

In Quechua, the language of the Incas, Huayna Picchu means young mountain peak, while Machu Picchu means old mountain peak. Huayna Picchu is the dramatic, steep mountain visible directly behind the citadel in nearly every photograph. Machu Picchu is a different, larger mountain that lies beyond it. The researchers concluded that Bingham had attached the name of the wrong peak to the ruins - a labelling error that has persisted for more than a century.

A Name Too Famous to Fix

Despite their findings, the researchers stopped short of calling for a name change. "We would not suggest that the name be changed since Machu Picchu is known worldwide," Bauer said. Co-author Amado Gonzales put it simply: "It may not have been Machu Picchu to the Incas but now it's Machu Picchu to the world." The site was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 and now draws over 1.5 million visitors a year - all to a place that carries the name of the wrong mountain.