Peru’s Rainbow Mountain Is an Incredible Display of Color

Rainbow Mountain, also called Montaña de Siete Colores (Mountain of Seven Colors), is located in the Andes in the Cusco region of Peru.

But what makes the Rainbow Mountain turn so many different colors? Well, first, always be wary of which photos you see on the internet. Super bright, technicolor photos are often enhanced by Photoshop (which we’ll get into later), but the real deal isn’t dull either. The mountainsides look like they were painted in yellows, greens, reds, and purples, but they look a little more natural in person.

The reason why these colors have formed, HuffPo reported, is because of the ice that used to cover the area. When it began to melt, the water mixed with minerals in the ground, turning the earth into the many colors you see today. Red areas are due to rust mixtures, yellows are due to iron sulfide, purples are from goethite or oxidized limonite, and the greens come from chlorite.