Machu Picchu Inca Ruins in Peru

This is one of the three successful Latin American sites shortlisted for the New Seven Wonders of the World, where the Inca citadel Machu Picchu was perched in the 15th century among the mountains above Peru's Amazon jungle. The most famous civilization to inhabit this destroyed city were the Incas, who ruled a vast empire stretching along the Andes mountain range of South America. It is believed that this city was decimated by a devastating outbreak of smallpox, a disease brought by the Spanish conquest of the 16th century. Hundreds gathered Saturday at the 7,970-foot (2,430-meter) high ruins to celebrate Machu Picchu being voted as one of the new "Seven Wonders of the World." The winners were announced at a soccer stadium in the Portuguese capital Lisbon.