Machu Picchu is located in Peru.
The 15th-century Inca citadel stands in the Andes above the Urubamba Valley, near the modern town of Aguas Calientes. Its stone terraces, plazas, temples, and residences occupy a mountain ridge at an elevation of about 2,430 metres.
Most archaeologists associate Machu Picchu with the Inca ruler Pachacuti, who reigned during the expansion of the Inca Empire. The site was probably a royal estate or ceremonial and administrative complex rather than an ordinary city. Its construction uses finely fitted stonework and sophisticated agricultural terraces.
Machu Picchu was not completely unknown locally after the Spanish conquest, but it became internationally famous after Hiram Bingham publicized it in 1911. The site entered UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1983 and is now one of Peru’s most important cultural and tourism landmarks.