The circular tower at Machu Picchu that served as a solar temple is the Torreón, also called the Temple of the Sun. Its semicircular wall and carefully fitted stonework make it one of the site’s most distinctive religious structures.
The Torreón was built over a large natural granite outcrop in Machu Picchu’s upper town. Its windows were aligned with significant solar positions, especially the June solstice sunrise. These orientations likely supported ritual observations of the Sun, although scholars debate whether the structure should be called a precise observatory.
The temple’s masonry is exceptionally fine, with trapezoidal niches and an elegant curved enclosure wall. Beneath the main structure is a cave-like space sometimes called the Royal Mausoleum, though its exact function and connection to royal burials remain uncertain. The Torreón’s original roof is also lost, but evidence suggests it may once have carried a conical thatched roof.
The Torreón is often confused with the Intihuatana, a separate carved ritual stone elsewhere at Machu Picchu. The Temple of the Moon is also a different sanctuary on nearby Huayna Picchu.