Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel situated on a mountain ridge 2,430 meters above sea level in Peru's Sacred Valley. Built around 1450 CE during the reign of Inca emperor Pachacuti, it was abandoned just over 100 years later during the Spanish conquest and remained unknown to the outside world until American historian Hiram Bingham "rediscovered" it in 1911. The site consists of approximately 200 structures including temples, residences, and agricultural terraces. The construction is a marvel — massive stone blocks weighing up to 25 tons were fitted together without mortar so precisely that a knife cannot be inserted between them. Machu Picchu's exact purpose remains debated. It may have been a royal estate, a religious sanctuary, or an astronomical observatory. Its alignment with celestial events suggests the Incas used it to track solstices and equinoxes. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Machu Picchu welcomes about 1.5 million visitors annually, though access is increasingly restricted to preserve the site.