Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is (, Quechua: Machu Picchu, "Old Peak") a pre-Columbian 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level. Machu Picchu is located in the Cusco Region of Peru, South America. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often referred to as the "City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World.

The Incas started building the "estate" around 1400, but abandoned it as an official site for the Inca rulers a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of what the structures originally looked like. By 1976, thirty percent of Machu Picchu had been restored. The restoration work continues to this day.

Since the site was never known to the Spanish during their conquest, it is highly significant as a relatively intact cultural site. Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll.

Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary structures are the Intihuatana (Hitching post of the Sun), 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 2007, Peru and Yale University almost reached an agreement regarding the return of artifacts which Yale has held since Hiram Bingham removed them from Machu Picchu in the early 20th century. In November 2010, a Yale University representative agreed to return the artifacts to a Peruvian university.

Read more about Machu Picchu:  History, Geography, Site, Intihuatana Stone, Concerns Over Tourism, Entrance Restrictions, Controversy With Yale University, New Airport, In Media

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Putucusi
... located on the opposite side (northeast) of the Urubamba (Vilcanota) River to Machu Picchu in the Cusco department of Peru. 2,560 metres (8,400 ft) above sea level at its peak, the mountain offers epic views of Machu Picchu and the surrounding Urubamba River Valley ... Putucusi, Machu Picchu (Machu Pikchu means "old peak" in Quechua) and Huayna Picchu (Wayna Pikchu means "young peak" in Quechua) are considered apus, or holy mountains, by the local Quechua people ...
Santa Teresa District
... Santa Teresa, Peru is situated 6.5 km northwest of Machu Picchu and is at the axis of several important routes leading to this archeological centre, including alternative paths ... buried the town and destroyed that bridge that connected it to Machu Picchu and Cusco ... later, they have seen the completion of the bridge that reconnects them with Machu Picchu and allows them to take their produce to markets in Cusco ...
Machu Picchu - In Media
... Incas was filmed by Paramount Pictures on location at Cusco and Machu Picchu, the first time that a major Hollywood studio filmed on site ... Machu Picchu also is featured prominently in the 2004 film, The Motorcycle Diaries, a biopic based on the 1952 youthful travel memoir of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara ... NOVA TV Documentary "Ghosts of Machu Picchu" presents an elaborate documentary on these mysteries of Machu Picchu ...
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... Records 2004) split EP Songs, Ideas We Forgot (Catune, 2003 Machu Picchu, 2012) Redesigned (Catune, 2003) The Book About My Idle Plot on a Vague Anxiety (Catune ...
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... / -10.5 -76.75 (Cordillera Huayhuash) Machu Picchu pueblo, known locally and incorrectly as Aguas Calientes, near Machu Picchu ...