This 600-year-old citadel was the jewel in the crown of the Inca world and is a regular feature on many people’s travel bucket lists, even earning a place among the New Seven Wonders of the World. Yet there’s much we still don’t know about Machu Picchu, from its true purpose – royal retreat, ceremonial site or even a kind of convent – to when it was built or why it was abandoned by the Incas only a century after its construction.

Click through the gallery to find out the true story of Machu Picchu, from how this ‘lost city’ was rediscovered to how the role of local people was written out of history…

The secrets and mysteries of Machu Picchu