Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a 2,430-meter (7,970 ft) mountain ridge.[2][3] Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is the most familiar icon of the Inca Empire. It is located in the Machupicchu District within Urubamba Province[4] above the Sacred Valley, which is 80 kilometers (50 mi) northwest of Cusco. The Urubamba River flows past it, cutting through the Cordillera and creating a canyon with a tropical mountain climate.[5] In reference to the site's name, for most English or Spanish speakers, the first 'c' in Picchu is silent. In English, the name is pronounced /ˌmɑːtʃuːˈpiːtʃuː/MAH-choo PEE-choo[6][7] or /ˌmætʃuːˈpiːktʃuː/MATCH-oo PEAK-choo,[7][8] in Spanish as [ˈmatʃuˈpitʃu] or [ˈmatʃuˈpiɣtʃu],[9] and in Quechua (Machu Pikchu)[10] as [ˈmatʃʊˈpɪktʃʊ].
The Inca civilization had no written language and following the first encounter by the Spanish soldier Baltasar Ocampo, no Europeans are recorded to have visited the site from the late 16th century until the 19th century. As far as historical knowledge extends, there are no existing written records detailing the site during its period of active use. The names of the buildings, their supposed uses, and their inhabitants, are the product of modern archaeologists based on physical evidence, including tombs at the site. Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary structures are the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Three Windows, and the Intihuatana. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give visitors a better idea of how they originally appeared.[11] By 1976, 30 percent of Machu Picchu had been restored[11] and restoration continues.[12] Most recent archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was constructed as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). The Incas built the estate around 1450 but abandoned it a century later, at the time of the Spanish conquest. According to the new AMS radiocarbon dating, it was occupied from c. 1420–1532.[13] Historical research published in 2022 claims that the site was probably called Huayna Picchu by the Inca people themselves, as it exists on the smaller peak of the same name.[14][15]
Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historic Sanctuary in 1982 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.[3] In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide internet poll.[16]
^Jarus, Owen (31 August 2012). "Machu Picchu: Facts & History - Abandonment of Machu Picchu". Live Science. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
^"Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu". UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
^ abUNESCO World Heritage Centre.
^escale.minedu.gob.pe – UGEL map of the Urubamba Province (Cusco Region)
^CarlottoCardenasFidel 2009.
^"Machu Picchu". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021.
^"Machupicchu o Machu Picchu? ¿Cómo se escribe esta maravilla del mundo?". 5 April 2010.
^Nonato Rufino Chuquimamani Valer, Carmen Gladis Alosilla Morales, Victoria Choque Valer: Qullaw Qichwapa Simi Qullqan. Lima, 2014 p. 70
^ abNava 1976, pp. 9–10.
^Davey 2001.
^Burger, R. L.; Salazar, L. C.; Nesbitt, J.; Washburn, E.; Fehren-Schmitz, L. (August 2021). "New AMS dates for Machu Picchu: results and implications". Antiquity. 2021 (383): 1265–1279. doi:10.15184/aqy.2021.99. S2CID 238220619.
^Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^NPR: "We've been calling Machu Picchu by the wrong name" 27 March 2022
^"Creating Global Memory". New7Wonders of the World. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
MachuPicchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a 2,430-meter (7,970 ft) mountain ridge. Often referred...
District. It rises over MachuPicchu, the so-called lost city of the Incas. The Incas built a trail up the side of the Huayna Picchu and built temples and...
The Inca Trail to MachuPicchu (also known as Camino Inca or Camino Inka) is a hiking trail in Peru that terminates at MachuPicchu. It consists of three...
politician. In 1911, he publicized the existence of the Inca citadel of MachuPicchu and rediscovered with the guidance of local indigenous farmers. Later...
The MachuPicchu Scientific Base is a Peruvian polar scientific research facility in Antarctica, established to conduct Antarctic research on geology,...
gauge Ferrocarril Santa Ana to Aguas Calientes, delivering tourists for MachuPicchu. It operates in a 50/50 joint venture between Belmond Limited and Peruvian...
importance to MachuPicchu" in Manú National Park. In 2013, he claimed to have discovered the tomb of the Inca emperor Pachacutec at MachuPicchu. In 2017...
Lima. MachuPicchu, the most famous and well preserved of Inca archeological sites, contains a complex aqueduct system. Construction of MachuPicchu began...
the new World Wonders generated great expectations and the election of MachuPicchu was celebrated nationwide. The Chilean representative for Easter Island's...
visitors a year and providing passage to numerous Incan ruins, such as MachuPicchu, one of the Seven modern wonders of the world and others. The Constitution...
MachuPicchu in Peru, with some 100 Brazilian extras. It was choreographed by Raju Sundaram and supervised by Fernando Astete, director of the Machu Picchu...
destination. In 2019, 1.6 million people, the majority non-Peruvians, visited MachuPicchu, its most famous archaeological site. Many of the same tourists also...
modern techniques, many previously lost cities have been rediscovered. MachuPicchu is a pre-Columbian Inca site situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba...
MachuPicchu celebra 14 aniversario como Maravilla del Mundo". elperuano.pe (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2022. LR, Redacción (7 July 2022). "Machu...
Prior to its launch, an television special recorded in the ruins of MachuPicchu was presented on Chilean and Peruvian television. After the release of...
supplied noble residents with water for non agricultural purposes. In 1450, MachuPicchu was constructed. This date was determined and based on the Carbon 14...
Incan site in southern Peru, similar in structure and architecture to MachuPicchu. The ruins are buildings and terraces at levels above and below Sunch'u...
incorporated into Spanish Colonial structures. The famous royal estate of MachuPicchu (Machu Pikchu) is a surviving example of Inca architecture. Other significant...
approximately 40 mi (64 km) north of Cusco and 35 mi (56 km) east of MachuPicchu. The Lares Valley lies in the east of the Urubamba mountain range, traversing...
places related to access to MachuPicchu, in Peru. One of the two was built by the Incas as a secret entrance to MachuPicchu for the Inca army. This Inca...
assembly have been used. The dry ashlar of Inca architecture in Cusco and MachuPicchu is particularly fine and famous. The word is attested in Middle English...