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A hundred years ago, Hiram Bingham ‘discovered’ MachuPicchu. The site stunned the world and, splashed over the pages of National Geographic, quickly became one of our mosticonic wonders. But nearly 70 years before Bingham set up his camera in theInca ruins, and far to the north, another lost city was quietly reclaimed fromthe jungle, one of the most awesome monuments in all the ancient Americas.

Kuelap was brought to the world’s attention in 1843 bya local judge, Juan Crisóstomo Nieto, who was guided to the site by villagerswhile conducting a survey of the area. In a letter to a regional administrator,he wrote of its massive size, and as word got out a straggle of adventurershacked their way through the vine-entangled forest to see for themselves.