Machu Picchu, Peru is a pre-Columbian Inca site located about 2,400 meters above sea level. One of the finest heritage sites in the world, Machu Picchu, Peru is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru. Often referred to as “The Lost City of the Incas”, Machu Picchu probably is the most familiar and important symbol of the Inca Empire.
Machu Picchu, Peru was built around the year 1460. The site was brought to worldwide attention in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, a well known American historian. Since then, Machu Picchu, Peru has become an important tourist attraction, drawing lots of tourists every year.
Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in the year 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. It is also one of the major 8 Wonders of the World. As a known cultural site, Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls.
The site’s primary buildings are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. Machu Picchu was created around 1460, at the height of the Inca Empire. Hiram Bingham was credited for discovering the site, along with several others.
It was stated that Machu Picchu was the center of Inca dynasty, whereas another theory maintains that Machu Picchu was an Inca “llacta”, a settlement built to control the economy of the conquered regions. Research conducted by scholars has convinced most archaeologists that rather than a defensive retreat, Machu Picchu was an estate of the Inca emperor, Pachacuti.