Machu Picchu was ''discovered'' in 1911 by Chichén Itzá is a Mayan city on the Yucatán

Hiram Bingham. What is known is that Machu Peninsula in Mexico. Under the Mayan tribe
Picchu is one of the few major pre-Columbian Itzá, who were strongly influenced by the
ruins found nearly intact. It features Toltecs, a number of important monuments
agricultural terraces, plazas, residential areas, and temples were built. Among the most
and temples. Machu Picchu receives over notable is the stepped pyramid El Castillo.
500000 visitors a year, more than 2,500 every The structure features a total of 365 steps,
day. Unesco added it to its roster in 1983, the number of days in the solar year. During
describing it as " among the greatest artistic, the spring and autumnal equinoxes, the
architectural and land use achievements setting sun casts shadows on the pyramid
anywhere, and the most significant tangible that give the appearance of a serpent
legacy of the Inca civilization". slithering down the north stairway; at the

base is a stone snake head.

Petra is a famous archaeological site in

Jordan's southwestern desert. Dating to
around 300 B.C., it was the capital of
the Nabatean Kingdom. It contains
tombs and temples carved into pink
sandstone cliffs, earning its nickname,
the "Rose City." Perhaps its most famous
structure is 45m-high Al Khazneh, a
temple with an ornate, Greek-style
facade, and known as The Treasury.