Machu Picchu

(Peru)

Machu Picchu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It is
a 15th-century Incan citadel located in the Andes Mountains. The site is admired for its well-planned
layout and quality construction. The buildings, temples, and fountains are made of huge stones that
were fitted together without mortar. Visitors can marvel at the impressive agricultural terracing that
is still in use today
This major pre-Columbian ruin is located in the Cordillera de Vilcabamba of the Andes Mountains,
and it is perched above the Urubamba River valley in a narrow saddle between two sharp peaks at
an elevation of 7,710 feet. It was built to serve as a royal retreat, although its purpose is ultimately
unknown. Scholars suggest that it may have been a palace complex of the ruler Pachacuti Inca
Yupanqui and may have served as a sanctuary for the Virgins of the Sun, an elite Inca group. The
reason for the site’s abandonment is unknown, but lack of water may have been a factor.

Machu Picchu was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983 and is one of the most
important archaeological sites in the world. It is tangible evidence of the urban Inca Empire at the
peak of its power and achievement. The complex of palaces and plazas, temples and homes may
have been built as a ceremonial site, a military stronghold, or a retreat for ruling elites. The ruins lie
on a high ridge, surrounded on three sides by the windy, turbulent Urubamba River some 2,000 feet
below. The site's buildings, walls, terraces, and ramps reclaim the steep mountainous terrain and
make the city blend naturally into the rock escarpments on which it is situated. The landscape
engineering skills are in strong evidence at Machu Picchu, and the 700-plus terraces preserved soil,
promoted agriculture, and served as part of an extensive water-distribution system that conserved
water and limited erosion on the steep slopes. Machu Picchu is a national treasure in Peru and one
of the most important archaeological sites in the world. It was built to serve as a royal retreat,
although its purpose is ultimately unknown. Scholars suggest that it may have been a palace
complex of the ruler Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui and may have served as a sanctuary for the Virgins
of the Sun, an elite Inca group. The site's preservation is a management challenge, and the Peruvian
government wishes to repatriate the materials taken by Bingham to Yale. To visit Machu Picchu,
one can take a narrow-gauge railway and then ascend nearly 1,640 feet from the Urubamba River
valley on a serpentine road or hike the Inca Trail.