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treated having lost 20,000 in battle. The victory was momentous and Skënderbeg managed to
defend the castle from the Turks for another 25 years until his death in 1468.
He was succeeded by Lek Dugagjin who successfully defended the citadel until 16 June
1478. The force of Sultan Mehmet finally overwhelmed the Albanians, and the area fell to the
Turkey. The Ottoman Empire fortified the castle, its walls, and its 11 towers to fend of revolt.
But they could not fend off the forces of nature.
139 years later in 1617 a massive earthquake shook the area. The castle was badly dam-
aged. It was never to rise again. By 1832 power in the region had shifted from military might to
diplomatic prowess. The castles of the region were abandoned and power was concentrated in
the central bureaucracy, and the castles left in ruins so they could not be used in an uprising.
In 1982 a museum was built inside the citadel. Its name, Museum of Gjergj Kastriot
Skënderbeg, pays homage to the castle's great defender. Inside there are exhibits chronicling the
many battles the castle survived, and a 182-square-meter mural depicting the strategies used by
the warrior. There are also replicas of Skënderbeg's armor. The originals are in a museum in
Vienna, Austria.
MACHU PICCU
This is one of the sites where you can get a real glimpse of pre-Columbian South
America. It was hidden from Western eyes until 1911 when Professor Hiram Bingham of
Yale University was taken there by a local resident. He was seeking the fabled "lost city of
the Incas" and for many years it was believed that Machu Piccu is that city.
Later archaeological evidence has proved otherwise. In reality, Machu Piccu is one of a se-
ries of fortress towns along a footpath. It may also have been home to a palace. Why this city in
the sky was abandoned is uncertain. One theory holds that the water supply was inadequate for
such a large population. Visiting requires a certain amount of physical strength, as the location
is 7,710 feet above sea level.
The many terraces are connected by pathways, and sometimes by foot- and handholds
carved into the rock like ladders. Much of the trip can be made by railway, but the last 1,640
vertical feet must be walked over the course of several days up steps, through tunnels, and
across bridges.
• 1983 – Named a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• August 1997 – A forest fire damages Machu Piccu's famed Inca Bridge.
• August 1999 – Preservationists are outraged by a plan to build a cable car lift to bring
tourists to Machu Piccu.
• 2000 – Fears of erosion caused the number of visitors to be limited.
• September 2000 – A huge sundial known as the "Hitching Post of the Sun" is damaged
during filming of a beer commercial. The crane, which fell on the sun clock, was specifically
prohibited by the National Institute of Culture.
• March 2001 – Japanese geologists warn that Machu Piccu could be destroyed by a land-
slide. It is moving about six inches per year.
• 14 October 2002 – Archaeologists have found a new Incan tomb at Machu Picchu. It
contains the graves of three people and a number of objects they were buried with. The tomb is
considered the best-preserved one of its kind.
• 18 March 2003 – The New York Times reports that Machu Piccu may not be the lost city
of the Incas, after all. The article details information from a new traveling exhibit on Machu
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