Machu Picchu
Fifteenth-century Inca citadel of terraces, temples and stairways on a ridge above the Urubamba.
Machu Picchu was built around the middle of the fifteenth century on a ridge some 2,430 metres above sea level, between the peaks of Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu and high above a bend of the Urubamba river. It is generally understood as a royal estate associated with the Inca ruler Pachacuti, combining residential sectors, ceremonial buildings, storehouses and extensive agricultural terraces. The dry-stone masonry, fitted without mortar, and the water channels that run through the site are its most studied features.
The settlement was abandoned in the sixteenth century and was known locally but not widely recorded until the American historian Hiram Bingham was led to it in 1911 and published accounts that brought it international attention. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 as part of the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, which also protects the surrounding cloud forest. Access is now managed through timed tickets and fixed circuits, with daily visitor limits set each year by the Ministry of Culture.
Highlights
- Intihuatana, a carved ritual stone set on the highest terrace
- Temple of the Sun and the Room of the Three Windows
- Mortarless dry-stone masonry and stepped agricultural terraces
- Views to Huayna Picchu and the Urubamba gorge below
![Afrique occidentale française : Cathédrale à St Louis / [photogr. Eugène] Gallois ; [photogr. reprod. par Radiguet et Massiot pour la conférence donnée par] Gallois](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Afrique_occidentale_fran%C3%A7aise_-_Cath%C3%A9drale_%C3%A0_St_Louis_-_%28photogr._Eug%C3%A8ne%29_Gallois_%3B_%28photogr._reprod._par_Radiguet_et_Massiot_pour_la_conf%C3%A9rence_donn%C3%A9e_par%29_Gallois_-_btv1b532798828.jpg/500px-thumbnail.jpg)
![[Golestan, Le Salon et Fete de l'equinode, Teheran, Iran (le Pavillion du Trone)]](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/-Golestan%2C_Le_Salon_et_Fete_de_l%27equinode%2C_Teheran%2C_Iran_%28le_Pavillion_du_Trone%29-_MET_DP202918.jpg/500px--Golestan%2C_Le_Salon_et_Fete_de_l%27equinode%2C_Teheran%2C_Iran_%28le_Pavillion_du_Trone%29-_MET_DP202918.jpg)
![Théâtre de la guerre dans l'Inde sur la coste de Coromandel / par M.B.C.T. [Monsieur Bourcet Capitaine ?] ; gravé par Croisey](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg/500px-Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg)
