Peru contains Machu Picchu, the ancient Inca citadel built high in the Andes.
Machu Picchu stands about 2,430 meters above sea level on a mountain ridge above Peru's Urubamba Valley. The site was constructed in the fifteenth century, during the height of the Inca Empire, and includes terraces, plazas, temples, residences, and carefully fitted stone walls. Its exact original purpose remains debated, although it was likely a royal estate or ceremonial and administrative center.
The Spanish conquest did not record Machu Picchu in the same way as major Inca capitals, and the site was not widely known internationally until the early twentieth century. Hiram Bingham publicized it after visiting in 1911, though local residents already knew of the ruins.
Machu Picchu became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. It is often incorrectly described as an isolated “lost city”; it was a substantial, engineered settlement connected to the wider Inca road network.