Which empire built Machu Picchu in the Andes of present-day Peru?

The Inca Empire built Machu Picchu in the Andes of present-day Peru.

Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca site located about 2,430 metres above sea level in the Cordillera Vilcabamba. Archaeologists generally connect its construction with the reign of Pachacuti, the Inca ruler who transformed the kingdom of Cusco into a large Andean empire.

The settlement includes terraces, plazas, temples, residences, and carefully fitted stone walls. Its builders used ashlar masonry in which stones were shaped to fit tightly without mortar. The site’s agricultural terraces helped stabilize slopes and manage water in a steep, wet environment.

Machu Picchu was probably a royal estate or ceremonial retreat rather than a conventional city. Spanish colonial records do not clearly describe it, and the site was largely unknown to the outside world until Hiram Bingham publicized it internationally in 1911. Peru created a protected historical sanctuary around it, and UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site in 1983.