Machu Picchu, Peru

Perched a mile and a half above sea level in the mist above the Urubamba River Valley, Machu Picchu was built in the mid-15th century at the command of the ninth Inca ruler, Pachacutec. Part royal retreat, part spiritual center, the city was mysteriously abandoned a century later. Half-forgotten tales say that a portion of its people were sacrificed in a futile bid to save a dying empire, while the rest vanished into the mountains, leaving behind only echoes of old magic. That tragedy kindled the rumors of a “Curse of Machu Picchu,” born of a shattered balance between mortals, spirits, and nature.

For the Inca, the city was a mirror of the cosmos. Andean belief divides existence into three inseparable realms: Hanan Pacha, the heavenly world of the gods, symbolized by the soaring condor; Kay Pacha, the human world under the watch of the puma; and Ukhu Pacha, the underworld of the dead, guided by the serpent. Machu Picchu’s layout was meant to unite all three. On the highest terrace stands the Intihuatana, the “Hitching Post of the Sun,” a massive granite altar that priests used to “tie” the sun to the earth during the equinoxes. Shamans claim the stone still radiates a pulse of spiritual energy strong enough to open one’s inner sight. Nearby lie the Temple of the Three Windows—emblem of the three worlds—and the Sacred Rock, whose outline perfectly matches the silhouette of Mount Pumasillo, acting both as a terrestrial mirror of divine peaks and an acoustic focus for meditation.

That harmony, however, was violently broken, awakening what locals now call the Curse of Machu Picchu.

The spark was almost mundane. During the annual harvest festival, the Merchants’ Guild set up an enormous stage to draw crowds. Greasing the palm of a crooked magistrate for a permit, they rigged a half-ton winch to suspend lavish decorations. In mid-celebration the rigging failed, and the entire structure crashed onto the Intihuatana, shearing off a chunk of pristine granite. For the High Priests of the Mountain Peaks, it was a calamity. Legend held that if the stone were damaged, its guardian spirits would depart forever, tearing a hole in the city’s mystical shield and letting malevolent forces seep in.

One must also remember the Apus—the sacred mountain spirits—both protectors and fiercest powers of the region. The Inca believed every peak was sentient, steering the fates of all below.

From 100 Cursed Places · Fern Flower Press