Machu Picchu

Machu Picchuis a 15th-century Inca citadel, located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru, on a 2,430-metre (7,970 ft) mountain ridge.^[12][13] It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District,^[14] above the Sacred Valley, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows, cutting through the Cordillera and creating a canyon with a tropical mountain climate.^[15]

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu in 2009
Shown within Peru
Location	Peru └ Cusco Region
Coordinates	13°09′48″S 72°32′44″W
Height	2,430 metres (7,970 ft)
History
Founded	c. 1450
Abandoned	1572[1]
Cultures	Inca civilization
Site notes
Archaeologists	Hiram Bingham
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu
Type	Mixed
Criteria	i, iii, vii, ix
Designated	1983 (7th session)
Reference no.	274
State Party	Peru
Region	Latin America and the Caribbean

Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was constructed as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often mistakenly referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is the most familiar icon of Inca civilization. The Incas built the estate around 1450 but abandoned it a century later at the time of the Spanish conquest. Although known locally, it was not known to the Spanish during the colonial period and remained unknown to the outside world until American historian Hiram Bingham brought it to international attention in 1911.

Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary structures are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of how they originally appeared.^[16] By 1976, 30% of Machu Picchu had been restored^[16] and restoration continues.^[17]

Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historic Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.^[13] In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll.^[18]