Machu Picchu
| Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu* | |
|---|---|
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
 Huayna Picchu above the ruins of Machu Picchu | |
| State Party |  Peru |
| Type | Mixed |
| Criteria | i, iii, vii, ix |
| Reference | 274 |
| Region** | Latin America and the Caribbean |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1983 (7th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO. | |
Machu Picchu (Quechua: Machu Picchu, "Old mountain") is a pre-Columbian Inca site located 2,400 meters (7,875 ft) above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 km (50 mi) northwest of Cusco. Often referred to as "The Lost City of the Incas", Machu Picchu is probably the most familiar symbol of the Inca Empire.
It was built around the year 1450, but abandoned a hundred years later, at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Forgotten for centuries, the site was brought to worldwide attention in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, an American historian. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction. It has recently come to light that the site may have been discovered and raided several years previously, in 1867 by a German businessman, Augusto Berns. It was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. It is also one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its primary buildings are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. These are located in what is known by archaeologists as the Sacred District of Machu Picchu. In September of 2007, Peru and Yale University reached an agreement regarding the return of artifacts which Hiram Bingham had removed from Machu Picchu in the early 20th century. Currently, there are concerns about the impact of tourism on the site as it reached 400,000 visitors in 2003.
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Machu Picchu ( Quechua : Machu Pikchu , "Old Peak") is a pre-Columbian Inca site located at 2,430 meters (7,970 ft) above sea level on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley ...
Machu Picchu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A fortress city of the ancient Incas, in a high saddle between two peaks NW of Cuzco, Peru. The extraordinary pre-Columbian ruin, 5 sq. Miles of terraced stonework link by 3 ...
Machu Picchu
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Machu Picchu. By Meghan A. Porter Updated April 8, 2008. Machu Picchu is a city located high in the Andes Mountains in modern Peru. It lies 43 miles northwest of Cuzco at the top ...