Which ancient civilization created the city of Machu Picchu?

The Inca civilization created Machu Picchu. The fifteenth-century site stands high in the Andes of present-day Peru, above the Urubamba Valley, and is widely regarded as an estate or royal retreat associated with the Inca ruler Pachacuti.

Machu Picchu was built with finely fitted stonework, terraces, plazas, and carefully planned drainage. Its builders adapted the settlement to steep mountain terrain and used agricultural terraces to stabilize slopes and support cultivation. The site was connected to the wider Inca road network, although its exact original function remains debated.

The Spanish conquest did not produce a well-known colonial account of Machu Picchu, and the site was not widely known internationally until Hiram Bingham’s 1911 expedition brought it to broad scholarly attention. Local people already knew of the ruins. Machu Picchu became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.