Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain ridge at 2,430 meters (7,970 ft). It is situated in the Machupicchu District of Urubamba Province about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Cusco, above the Sacred Valley and along the Urubamba River, which forms a deep canyon with a subtropical mountain climate.

Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", Machu Picchu is one of the most iconic symbols of the Inca civilization and a major archaeological site in the Americas. Built around 1450, it is believed to have served as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti, though no contemporary written records exist to confirm this. The site was abandoned roughly a century later, likely during the Spanish conquest. Modern radiocarbon dating places its occupation between c. 1420 and 1530.

Machu Picchu was constructed in the classical Inca style, featuring finely crafted dry-stone walls. Notable structures include the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Three Windows, and the Intihuatana ritual stone. Although the site was known locally and reached in the early 20th century by the Peruvian explorer Agustín Lizárraga, it was brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham III. The original Inca name of the site may have been Huayna Picchu, after the mountain on which part of the complex stands.

Designated a National Historic Sanctuary by Peru in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, Machu Picchu was also named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. As of 2025^[update], the site receives over 1.5 million visitors annually, making it Peru's most visited international tourist destination.

The site is on a narrow saddle between two mountain peaks, Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu. In the Quechua language, machu means 'old' or 'old person' and wayna (spelled huayna in standard Spanish orthography) means 'young', while pikchu refers to a 'summit', 'peak', or 'pyramid'. Thus, the name of the site is often translated as 'old mountain' or 'old peak'.

Although the original name given to the settlement by its builders is not definitively known, a 2021 study in Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of the Institute of Andean Studies suggests that the site was likely called "Huayna Picchu", after the smaller peak nearby, or simply "Picchu". According to the research, the association of the name Machu Picchu with the ruins likely began with American explorer Hiram Bingham's 1911 publications, a conclusion supported by Bingham's field notes, early maps, and historical documents.

The issue of Machu Picchu’s early chronology remains a matter of scholarly debate. Earlier chronological models, based mainly on John H. Rowe's historical reconstruction of the reign of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, have placed the beginning of construction around 1450, 10 years after his takeover. However, a 2021 study led by Richard L. Burger, professor of anthropology at Yale University), reporting 26 AMS radiocarbon measurements from human remains concluded that Machu Picchu was occupied from around 1420 to 1530. Similar conclusions supporting an earlier 15th-century chronology have been reported by other radiocarbon studies. Construction appears to date from two Sapa Incas, Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui (1438–1471) and Túpac Inca Yupanqui (1472–1493).

A consensus among archaeologists is that Pachacutec ordered the construction of the royal estate after his conquest of the middle and lower Urubamba, this has been interpreted as part of a broader program of establishing royal estates along the Urubamba River. Machu Picchu’s palace complex is thought to have functioned as a seasonal royal retreat. Although Machu Picchu is considered to be a royal estate, it would not have been passed down in the line of succession. Rather it was used for 80 years before being abandoned, seemingly because of the Spanish conquests in other parts of the Inca Empire. It is possible that most of its inhabitants died from smallpox introduced by travelers before the Spanish conquistadors even arrived in the area.