Where Is Machu Picchu?

Machu Picchu sits on a narrow ridge between the peaks of Machu Picchu ("Old Peak") and Huayna Picchu ("Young Peak") in the Cusco Region of Peru, about 80 km northwest of the city of Cusco. Built around 1450 AD during the reign of Inca emperor Pachacuti, it was likely a royal estate and sacred religious site. The complex includes roughly 200 stone structures — temples, residences, and agricultural terraces — fitted together without mortar using precisely cut granite blocks. Abandoned during the Spanish conquest, it remained largely unknown to the outside world until American historian Hiram Bingham publicised it in 1911.