'It would destroy it': new international airport for Machu Picchu sparks outrage

[Judi Lynn]

Dan Collyns in Chinchero
@yachay_dc
Wed 15 May 2019 01.00 EDT

Peruvian archaeologists decry new airport that would carry tourists directly to already fragile Inca citadel

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Dan Collyns in Chinchero

@yachay_dc
Wed 15 May 2019 01.00 EDT

Among the Inca ruins that abound in Peru, none draw nearly as many tourists as the famed Inca citadel of Machu Picchu. There were more than 1.5 million visitors in 2017, double the limit recommended by Unesco, putting a huge strain on the fragile ruins and local ecology.

Now, in a move that has drawn a mixture of horror and outrage from archaeologists, historians and locals, work has begun on clearing ground for a multibillion-dollar international airport, intended to jet tourists into Machu Picchu directly.

Bulldozers are already scraping clear millions of tonnes of earth in Chinchero, a picturesque Inca town about 3,800 metres above sea level that is the gateway to the Sacred Valley. This area was once was the heartland of a civilisation that stretched from modern-day Colombia to Argentina, and in the 15th century was the world’s largest empire.

“This is a built landscape; there are terraces and routes which were designed by the Incas,” says Natalia Majluf, a Peruvian art historian at Cambridge University who has organised a petition against the new airport. “Putting an airport here would destroy it.”

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/may/15/archaeologists-outraged-over-plans-for-machu-picchu-airport-chinchero

[mr_lebowski]

1. Wait ... NOT THE ONION?!?

You've got to be fucking kidding me right now ...

[Midnight Writer]

2. Now for a big, huge neon Trump sign. in gold, of course. That would be a sight.

[applegrove]

3. Vibes to Manchu Picchu. When I was on Margarita Island off Venezuela

Last edited Wed May 15, 2019, 02:34 AM - Edit history (1)

they were selling flights past angel falls at all the resorts as extra $$$ excursion. Flights to Manchu Picchu will be marketed everywhere far and wide. It will be a more of a zoo.

[Richard D]

4. I know this area quite well . . .

. . . this airport is a travesty. The community of Chinchero is old and beautiful. One of the most important traditional repositories of the old way of making textiles. It's also an incredibly beautiful part of the alta plano. My heard weeps for this.

[sinkingfeeling]

5. Horrible idea. Just a Peru was hoping to limit the number of visitors

tromping over the site.

[Judi Lynn]

7. I read about what you explained not too long ago. They were very much worried at that time.

Whoever pushed all the reality-based concern aside to make this move for profit has done the whole world a disservice. That are needs special protection. It can't last forever with multitudes of people showing up continually. It wasn't built to take that kind of traffic.

[Lulu KC]

6. Tragic

Part of the wonder is getting there--the train switching back and forth up the mountain. Unforgettable experience.