Machu Picchu which means old mountain is a pre-Columbian Inca site located 2400 metres above sea level.It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru which is 80 km 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 constructed about 1450 at the height 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 centuaries 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 was declared a Peruivan Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.
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.
It is also one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.