Vitcos

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Vitcos, one of the last cities held by the Incas

Vitcos city's ruins are located close to Vilcabamba, which was the last stronghold held by the Incas. If fact, they are both found in the Vilcabamba Valley. Some may confuse the two.

Once in ruins, Vitcos was reconstructed and can be visited by tourists today. Even though it does not offer the spectacular views that Machu Picchu does, some tourists still take the time to visit it. Inca construction techniques can be easily recognized on the walls of the city.

Most of Vitcos was destroyed by the conquistadores, but it was partially rebuilt to reflect its original looks. This way, we can have a slight idea about how it looked like back then when it was intact. Most of it has perished, unfortunately. What we see today is just a few buildings of the city.

The lost city of Vitcos was found by Hiram Bingham in 1911, the same explorer who came across the ruins of the "Old Peak".

In fact, Bingham has started off to find Vitcos, which was rumoured to have been one of the last cities that the Incas have held, before the Spaniards have fully occupied the Inca Empire's territories.

Bingham was looking for ruins in the Vilcabamba when he "by mistake" came across Machu Picchu. It has captured his heart and made him conduct excavations and detailed studies on it. Many scientists believe that Bingham was so deeply seduced by Machu Picchu, that he did not pay enough attention to Vitcos and Vilcabamba.