February 6, 2020 Comments Off on Machu Picchu tourists deported & banned over damage, defecation at Incan citadel Views: 488 Urban Trekker

The last thing you want to do when you visit an iconic site such as Machu Picchu is damaging the age-old stonework. Last January, one group of tourists not only did that but even defecated inside a 600-year-old temple, an important structure in the Inca sanctuary.

Police and immigration officers subsequently deported the tourists to Bolivia on January 14, 2020. They also barred them from returning to Peru for 15 years, according to Agence France-Presse.

The group of tourists reportedly included two Brazilians, an Argentine, a Chilean, and a French woman. Peru Migration said in a statement the tourists had received “the maximum punishment with expulsion and a ban on entry for a period of 15 years.”

The five tourists that were deported were dropped off at the Bolivian town of Desaguadero, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, another popular tourist destination.

A sixth tourist, a 28-year-old Argentine man, has been barred from leaving the Incan citadel Machu Picchu after supposedly admitting to damaging the Temple of the Sun at the ancient Inca sanctuary. He has been accused of damaging Peru’s “cultural heritage” and may face up to four years in prison.

The Argentine had admitted to causing a stone slab to fall from the temple wall, which caused a crack on the floor, reports Agence France-Presse.

Over 2,100 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains, Machu Picchu is the most visited tourist destination in Peru. Over 1 million tourists flock to the site each year. Uncontrolled urban development near the site and illegal access to the sanctuary both contribute to such a significant number of visitors. Both the United Nations and UNESCO have reacted.

A symbol of the Incan Empire and built around 1450 A.D., the Incan citadel was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 and was also voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.

The sophisticated stonework complex includes three distinct areas for agriculture, housing, and religious rituals. The name Machu Picchu means “old mountain” in the Quechua language, indigenous to the area. The city was built at the top of a lush mountain during the reign of the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438-1471).

The Inca Empire ruled over a large swath of western South America for a century before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. At the time, it would have been one of the largest empires to ever span on Earth.

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Featured photo: Machu Picchu’s Temple of the Sun or Torreon was a sacred temple built by the Inca for ceremonies where they paid tributes to the Sun god.

Tags: cultural heritage, Machu Picchu, news, Peru, sacred sites, South America, tourists, touristy news