Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel situated at 2,350 m elevation on a steep ridge in the Cordillera de Vilcabamba, approximately 80 km northwest of Cusco, Peru. Built as a royal palace complex of the ruler Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, it contains approximately 200 structures including the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Three Windows, and the Intihuatana ceremonial sundial, all constructed in the classic Inca polished dry-stone style. Abandoned after the Spanish conquest, it was brought to international attention in 1911 by Yale professor Hiram Bingham. UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site in 1983, calling it 'probably the most amazing urban creation of the Inca empire at its height'.