1) Machu Picchu is an Inca citadel set high in the Andes Mountains in Peru near Cusco. 2) The Incas built the city in the 15th century on mountain ridges overlooking the Urubamba Valley, but abandoned it due to invasion by Spanish forces. 3) Although the Spanish occupied the Inca empire, they never discovered the hidden city of Machu Picchu.

1. Machu
PicchuMachu Picchu (Quechua Machu pikchu redneck,
"Old Mountain") is the contemporary name given
to a llaqta (old Andean village) Inca built in the
middle of the fifteenth century in the rocky
promontory that connects the mountains Machu
Picchu and Huayna Picchu the eastern slope of
the Central Cordillera, southern Peru and 2490 m
(altitude of the main square). Its original name
was Picchu or would Picho.

2. historyThe Incas built the city on a mountain ridge, 2430m above sea level.
They lived there between 1200 and 1450 AD. Other people lived
there before about 650 AD.
The Incas built houses, fields and temples by cutting the rock on the
mountain so it was flat. They built an observatory to look at the
stars.
When the Spanish invaded Peru, the Incas left Machu Picchu.
Nobody knows for sure why they did that, but some think it
was because they were scared of the Spanish. The city was
left unfinished, most likely due to the Spanish invasion and/or
a civil war between the ruling rival Inca brothers
named Huascar and Atahualpa. The Spanish never found Machu Picchu
or the lost city during their occupation.

3. Historic Sanctuary
of Machu Picchu
View from south to north.
To the left is the Hanan
sector of the city (with the
pyramid structure intihuatana
Hill) and right the East Sector,
separated by the main
square. In the background the
Cerro Huayna Picchu. The
image is taken from the top of
the agricultural sector, south
of the resort.

4. geographic
LocationIt is located at 13 ° 9 '47 "South latitude and 72 º 32' 44"
west longitude. Part of the district of the same name, in
the province of Urubamba, Department of Cusco, Peru.
The closest major city is Cusco, current regional and
former capital of the Inca capital, 130 km away.
The Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu mountains are a
big orographic formation known as Vilcabamba Batholith
in the Central Cordillera of the Peruvian Andes. They are
located on the left bank of the Urubamba Canyon called,
formerly known as Quebrada de Picchu.

5. Access
formsThe archaeological site itself
is only accessible either
from the Inca roads that
reach it, or using the Hiram
Bingham Highway (ascending
slope of the mountain Machu
Picchu from the train station of
Puente Ruinas, located at the
bottom of the canyon) .
Neither forms exempts the
visitor entry price to the ruins.

6. climate
The weather is hot and humid during the day
and cool at night. The temperature ranges
between 12 and 24 degrees Celsius. The area is
very wet (about 1,955 mm a year) rule,
especially between November and March. The
rains, which are heavy, rapidly alternating with
moments of intense sunshine