Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel built on a mountain ridge. It sits 2,430 meters (7,970 feet) high in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru. It is in the Machupicchu District of Urubamba Province, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Cusco. The site sits above the Sacred Valley and along the Urubamba River, which has carved a deep canyon. The area has a subtropical mountain climate.

Often called the "Lost City of the Incas," Machu Picchu is one of the most famous symbols of the Inca civilization. It is also an important archaeological site in the Americas. People think it was built around 1450. It is believed to have been an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti, though no written records from that time exist to confirm this. The site was abandoned about a century later, probably during the Spanish conquest. Modern radiocarbon dating shows that people lived there between about 1420 and 1530.

Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with carefully made dry-stone walls. Famous structures include the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Three Windows, and the Intihuatana ritual stone. Local people knew about the site, and the Peruvian explorer Agustín Lizárraga visited it in the early 20th century. In 1911, the American historian Hiram Bingham III brought it to the attention of the world. The original Inca name may have been Huayna Picchu, after the mountain that part of the complex stands on.

Peru named Machu Picchu a National Historic Sanctuary in 1981. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. In 2007, it was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Today, over 1.5 million visitors come each year, making it the most visited international tourist destination in Peru.

Etymology

The site sits on a narrow saddle between two mountain peaks, Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu. In the Quechua language, machu means 'old' and wayna (spelled huayna in standard Spanish) means 'young'. Pikchu means 'peak' or 'summit'. So the name is often translated as 'old mountain' or 'old peak'.

The original name the builders gave the settlement is not known for certain. A 2021 study in Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of the Institute of Andean Studies suggests that the site may have been called "Huayna Picchu", after the smaller peak nearby, or simply "Picchu". The study says the name Machu Picchu was most likely first linked to the ruins by American explorer Hiram Bingham and his publications in 1911. Bingham's field notes, early maps, and old documents support this idea.

History

Scholars still debate when Machu Picchu was built. Older ideas placed the start of construction around 1450. A 2021 study led by Richard L. Burger of Yale University suggested that people lived at the site from about 1420 to 1530. The building seems to date from the rulers Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui and Túpac Inca Yupanqui. Archaeologists agree that Pachacutec ordered a royal estate built there, which was likely a place to stay for part of the year. People used it for about 80 years before they left. This seems to have happened because of the Spanish conquests in other parts of the Inca Empire. Many of its people may have become sick and died from smallpox, a disease that travelers may have brought before the Spanish arrived.

About 750 people are estimated to have lived at the estate. Most of them were support staff who lived there all year. Studies of skeletons show that many of these people came from different regions. People farmed on andenes (terraces). These terraces helped water drain away and protected the mountain from erosion. Animals such as llamas and alpacas were often offered at the site. There is little evidence of human sacrifice there. In 1902, Peruvian explorer Agustín Lizárraga visited the ruins. In 1911, Hiram Bingham explored the site. He later helped bring Machu Picchu to the attention of the world, although he was not the first to visit. In 1912, he returned with support from the National Geographic Society and took many artifacts away to Yale. This led to a long disagreement over who should keep them.

Main article: Peru–Yale University dispute

Current state

Further information: Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu

In 1981, Peru made an area of about 326 square kilometers (126 square miles) around Machu Picchu a "Historic Sanctuary." This area protects the ruins and the land around them. The land is home to plants and animals from the Peruvian Yungas and Central Andean wet puna ecoregions. Many animals live there, including the Andean fox, puma, vizcacha, spectacled bear, and white-tailed deer. More than 420 kinds of birds live there, such as the cock-of-the-rock and the Andean condor. The area also has many kinds of trees, including ferns, palms, and others. In 1983, UNESCO named Machu Picchu a World Heritage Site. It called the site "a masterpiece of art, urbanism, architecture and engineering" and "a unique testimony" of the Inca civilization.

Below the ruins, along the Urubamba river, is the town of Machu Picchu, also known as Aguas Calientes (hot springs). The town has a post office, a train station, hotels, and other services for the many visitors. The tourist train from Cusco ends its trip at the station there. Machu Picchu is officially twinned with several places around the world. Because the site is both a cultural and natural UNESCO World Heritage Site, many people visit it. The number of visitors has grown and passed 1.5 million in 2025. Tourism brings in a lot of money, but it also puts pressure on the site. Plans for a cable car and a luxury hotel in the late 1990s faced protests. The National Institute of Natural Resources warned that these plans could harm the environment. Safety risks such as altitude sickness, floods, and accidents have led some people to criticize UNESCO for allowing visits. To protect the site, daily limits on visitors have been set and changed over the years. The site was also closed for several months during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Geography

Machu Picchu is in the Southern Hemisphere, about 13 degrees south of the equator. It is 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Cusco. The site sits on the mountain Machu Picchu, about 2,430 meters (7,970 feet) above mean sea level. That is over 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) lower than Cusco, so the weather is milder than in the Inca capital. It is one of the most important archaeological sites in South America. It is also one of the most visited tourist attractions in Latin America and the most visited in Peru.

The site sits above a bend in the Urubamba River. The river surrounds it on three sides, and cliffs drop about 450 meters (1,480 feet) down to the water. Researchers have found several possible pre-Hispanic bridges across the river. They ranged from hanging rope bridges to simple log and rope structures. Some abutments and road sections near the site show where bridges once stood. River floods have damaged much of the evidence, though.

The city sits in a saddle between two mountains, Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu. The rock is mostly granite, with some granodiorite and local areas of peridotite and serpentine. Farming terraces covering about 4.9 hectares (12 acres) matched the site's buildings. They also helped protect the land from washing away. At least ten Inka roads link the city with nearby monuments. The main entrance is through Inti Punku (Sun Gate). Another route crosses the Inka Bridge to the Ahobamba basin and Llaqtapata.

Machu Picchu and other sites in the area are built over earthquake faults. Research from 2019 suggests this may not be a coincidence. There was already a lot of broken rock there, which was useful for building. Between the valley floor and the height of the Inca citadel, the area has a subtropical highland climate. It has heavy rain, an average yearly temperature of about 18 °C (64 °F), and high humidity. The site is often covered by cloud cover, which is typical of a cloud forest.

Site

Machu Picchu has two main areas. A farming area to the southeast has terraces (andenes). A city area to the northeast has homes, places of worship, and storehouses. The city is split into an upper town (Hanan) and a lower town (Hurin). About 200 buildings sit on wide terraces around a central square, and stone stairways connect the levels. The kanchas are long and narrow to fit the land. The eastern part was probably for homes, and the western part held religious and ceremonial places. In the lower town, a large building is thought to be an Acllahuasi. Nearby is the Temple of the Condor, which has a large stone often seen as a condor. Researchers from the University of Arkansas made detailed laser scans of the site in 2005 and 2009. The Torreón is a curved stone tower with niches. It may have been used as an observatory. It is similar to the Coricancha at Cusco and Pisac. Its openings may line up with sunlight and star groups, such as the Pleiades. Detailed studies suggest it was used more for ritual and ceremony than for exact astronomy. Photos of the Temple of the Three Windows were published in The Geographical Journal and National Geographic Magazine in 1911 and 1912.

Main article: Intihuatana, Urubamba

The Intihuatana is a ritual stone the Incas used. It is designed to point directly at the Sun during the winter solstice. Its name comes from Quechua. Most scholars do not accept the popular idea that it was a solar calendar gnomon. Its position lines up with peaks such as Veronica and Salcantay.

Main article: Incan architecture

The central buildings use classic Inca dry masonry. Large stone blocks were cut through quarrying, stone-cutting, and stone-dressing. Then they were fitted together without mortar. The site may have been built on fault lines, which helped natural drainage and gave a source of broken stone. Stones were probably mined from a quarry between the Hurin and Hanan areas. Terraces and canals drained rainwater and helped prevent flooding. The Incas likely used ramps, wooden rollers, levers, and ropes made from maguey fibers to move the stones. Some stones were carried from Ollantaytambo.

Machu Picchu was connected to the Inca road system and long-distance trade. This is shown by obsidian nodules traced to the Titicaca or Chivay sources, which show pre-Hispanic exchange networks. Today, the most popular way to visit is by train. Trains are run by PeruRail and Inca Rail and go to Aguas Calientes. From there, visitors take a bus or walk. The Inca Trail is called "the most famous hike in South America" by Lonely Planet. It passes through the Andes and reaches Warmi Wañusqa before arriving at Machu Picchu. Visitors can also travel by road to the Hydroelectric station. Then they walk or take a short train. A new paved road to the site was under construction in 2024 and is due to be finished in 2025.

In popular culture

Machu Picchu has appeared in many films, TV shows, and music videos. The Paramount Pictures film Secret of the Incas (1954), starring Charlton Heston and Yma Sumac, was filmed at Machu Picchu and Cusco. It was the first time a major Hollywood studio filmed on site. Werner Herzog's drama Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) starts with scenes shot near Machu Picchu and on the stone stairway of Huayna Picchu. The site is also a big part of the film The Motorcycle Diaries (2004). That film is based on Che Guevara's 1952 travel memoir. Machu Picchu also appears in the NOVA documentary "Ghosts of Machu Picchu."

The site appears briefly in an episode of The Simpsons called "Lost Verizon" (2008). More recently, footage of Machu Picchu appears in the Thread Routes series (2010) by multimedia artist Kimsooja. The popular film Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023) filmed scenes at Machu Picchu and other sites in Cusco. The song "Kilimanjaro" from the Indian Tamil-language film Enthiran (2010) was also filmed at Machu Picchu.