If you had plans to visit Machu Picchu in Peru any time soon, you may not get that opportunity in light of recent events.

Violent political clashes have endangered the safety of locals and tourists in Peru. As a result, officials have closed the site until further notice.

This Inca marvel has mesmerized for years and is probably Peru’s most celebrated site. People have wandered through the ruins and climbed Machu Picchu mountain. Risk-takers have conquered the narrow, steep steps of Huayna Picchu mountain, otherwise known as “The Stairs of Death.”

“Machu Picchu was a royal estate or sacred religious site for Inca leaders,” explained History. “For hundreds of years, until the American archaeologist, Hiram Bingham stumbled upon it in 1911, only peasants living in the region knew of the abandoned citadel’s existence.”

The name means “Old Peak” or “Old Mountain” in the Quechua language. The Inca built it ages before the invention of cranes and other construction machines. Similar to the pyramids of Egypt, they managed to do it with baffling efficiency.

According to Machu Picchu Gateway, the Inca “set the stones to fit together without mortar, and you can’t even get a piece of paper between them.” Moreover, the stones are very heavy. This begs the question: how were they able to move them? The answer is lots of chiseling, sheer and almost superhuman strength.

Machu Picchu has drawn hundreds of tourists, willing to risk crowds and the elements for a chance to get that fantastic Instagram photo, especially when the sun casts a yellow, orange and red glow over the stone monuments or when the fog rolls in.

Here is everything you need to know about Machu Picchu and the civil unrest in Peru.

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