The site

Machu Picchu is a fifteenth-century Inca citadel perched on a mountain ridge at 2,430 meters in southern Peru, above the Urubamba River canyon. Built in classical Inca style with finely fitted dry-stone walls, it holds landmarks such as the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Three Windows, and the Intihuatana ritual stone. Often called the "Lost City of the Incas," it is believed to have served as an estate for the emperor Pachacuti before its abandonment about a century later. It remains one of the most iconic sites in the Americas.

Field notes

civilizations

Inca

types

City

built

1,450 CE

occupied

1,450 CE — 1,572 CE

visitors

950,000 / year

country

Peru

elevation

2,430 m above sea level