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Machu Picchu (in hispanicized spelling, Spanish pronunciation:[matu piktu]) or Machu Pikchu (Quechua machu old, old person, pikchu peak; mountain or prominence with a broad base which ends in sharp peaks,[1] "old peak", pronunciation [mtu pixtu]) is a 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres (7,970ft) above sea level.[2][3] It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District in Peru.[4] It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Sacred Valley which is 80 kilometres (50mi) 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 (14381472). Often mistakenly referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is the most familiar icon of Inca civilization.

The Incas built the estate around 1450, but abandoned it 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 the largest tourist attraction in South America. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of what the structures originally looked like.[5] By 1976, thirty percent of Machu Picchu had been restored.[5] The restoration work continues to this day.[6]

Since the site was not known to the Spanish during the colonial period, 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.[3] 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 Inti Watana, 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.[citation needed]

Machu Picchu is vulnerable to threats. While natural phenomena like earthquakes and weather systems can play havoc with access, the site also suffers from the pressures of too many tourists. In addition, preservation of the area's cultural and archaeological heritage is an ongoing concern.

Machu Picchu was built around 1450, at the height of the Inca Empire.[7] The construction of Machu Picchu appears to date from the period of the two great Incas, Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui (143871) and Tupac Inca Yupanqui (147293).[8] It was abandoned just over 100 years later, in 1572, as a belated result of the Spanish Conquest.[7][9] It is possible that most of its inhabitants died from smallpox introduced by travelers before the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the area.[10] The latter had notes of a place called Piccho, although there is no record of the Spanish having visited the remote city. The types of sacred rocks defaced by the conquistadors in other locations are untouched at Machu Picchu.[9]

Although the citadel is located only about 80 kilometers (50mi) from Cusco, the Inca capital, the Spanish never found it and consequently did not plunder or destroy it, as they did many other sites.[9] Over the centuries, the surrounding jungle grew over the site, and few knew of its existence.

Hiram Bingham was an American historian employed as a lecturer at Yale University; he was not a trained archaeologist. In 1909, on his way back from attending the Pan-American Scientific Congress in Santiago, he traveled through Peru and was invited to explore the Inca ruins at Choqquequirau in the Apurimac Valley, which gave him an interest in Inca ruins, and an introduction to Peruvian President Augusto Legua. He organized the 1911 Yale Peruvian Expedition with one of its objectives to search for the lost city of Vitcos, the last capital of the Incas. He researched sources and consulted Carlos Romero, a historian in Lima who showed Bingham helpful references and Father Calanchas Chronicle.

Armed with this information, the expedition went down the Urubamba River valley on the new road that was completed in 1895. En route he asked local people to show them Inca ruins. By the time they camped at Mandor Pampa with Huayna Picchu 2000 feet above them on the opposite bank they had already examined several ruins, including five sites that Herman Tucker explored. But none fit the descriptions they had of Vitcos.

At Mandor Pampa Bingham asked a local farmer and innkeeper, Melchor Arteaga, if he knew of any ruins in the area and he said he knew of some excellent ruins on the top of Huayna Picchu.[11] The next day, 24 July 1911, Arteaga led Bingham and Sergeant Carrasco across the river on a primitive log bridge and up the mountain. At the top of the mountain they came across a small hut occupied by a couple of Quechua, Richarte and Alvarez, who were farming some of the original Machu Picchu agricultural terraces that they had cleared four years earlier. After a rest and refreshments Bingham was led along the ridge to the main ruins by Pablito, the 11-year-old son of Alvarez.[12]

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