High in the mountains of South America, Machu Picchu stands as one of the most important archaeological sites in the world, and one of the few well-preserved vestiges of the once-mighty Inca civilization.
For more than 100 years, researchers have marveled at its deft engineering and speculated about why it was built—and soon abandoned. Recognized as one of the seven wonders of the modern world, the now-iconic city is among the most popular tourist attractions on Earth.
History
There isn’t much left in the archaeological record of the Inca empire, which spanned 2,500 miles from Ecuador to Chile and ruled over 10 million subjects for nearly 100 years. But of the few Inca sites that do remain, Machu Picchu is the most spectacular.
The stone citadel sits shrouded in mist and mystery at the top of a dramatic mountain ridge in the Andes, about 50 miles northwest of Cusco, Peru, the imperial capital.
Surrounded by lush tropical forests roughly 8,000 feet above sea level, it was built around the mid-15th century at the behest of the emperor Pachacuti. It may have functioned as a summer palace for the emperor and the Incan elite: With an aqueduct providing fresh drinking water to the city, and terraced farmlands on the outskirts, it could have sustained a population of up to 1,000 people.
The Inca worshiped the sun god Inti and many of Machu Picchu’s 200 stone structures reflect that devotion, including the Sun Temple and the Intihuatana, or Hitching Post of the Sun, a stone altar carved to coincide with the position of the sun on the winter solstice. This has led some researchers to suspect the city functioned more as a celestial observatory or ceremonial site than a full-time dwelling.
(Re)discovery
When the Spanish conquistadors invaded Peru in 1532, they destroyed much of Cusco and plundered its gold. But Machu Picchu escaped unscathed because the Spanish didn’t realize it was there. Still, the Inca abandoned the city, and it remained uninhabited and largely unknown to the outside world for four centuries, though rumors persisted of a “lost city” in the clouds.
In 1911, Yale archaeologist (and later US Senator) Hiram Bingham set out to find it and was led to the site by a local farmer named Melchor Arteaga. (The “lost city” wasn’t, of course, lost to the Peruvians.)
Excavations have continued there ever since, with each successive discovery leaving researchers more in awe of the Incas’ engineering prowess and ingenuity. Experts are still working to understand exactly how the Inca managed to transport 15-ton stones through the unforgiving landscape and construct earthquake- and weather-proof structures that have lasted for 500 years, all without the use of wheels, mortar, or steel tools.
Machu Picchu Today
Machu Picchu was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983 and, in the decades since, has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.
Back in Incan times, the site was only reachable by means of a strenuous multiday trek through the rarefied air of high-altitude forests. Today, tourists have it a little easier: They can access the site by bus and train in a matter of hours, though altitude sickness remains a threat.
Still, it’s not enough to keep visitors away. Around 1.5 million tourists come to Machu Picchu every year.
High in the Andes Mountains, Machu Picchu stands as a testament to the ingenuity and resilience of the Inca Empire. Constructed in the mid-15th century during Emperor Pachacuti’s reign, this site is believed to have served as a royal retreat or ceremonial center. Its engineering marvels, including sophisticated aqueducts, terraced farming systems, and precisely carved stone structures like the Sun Temple, highlight the advanced skills of the Inca civilization.
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After first coming upon the ruins of Machu Picchu in 1911, Hiram Bingham’s subsequent expeditions were funded by Yale University, the Peruvian government, and $10,000 from a then-young National Geographic Society—in fact, it was the first archaeological grant that NatGeo ever issued. The magazine devoted its entire April 1913 issue, all 192 pages, to Bingham and his findings. You can read that issue in its entirety here.
The Machu Picchu we know today is familiar thanks to its neatly manicured plazas, lovingly preserved stone buildings, and ever-present hordes of tourists. But that’s not what Hiram Bingham saw when Melchor Arteaga led him to the site in 1911. Back then it lay covered by centuries of tropical overgrowth. This photo gallery of images taken by a Life magazine photographer in 1945, captures the silent awesomeness of Machu Picchu before the tourists.
Anyone who’s been on Tinder or Hinge in the last decade has noticed it: the obligatory Machu Picchu selfie, almost as ubiquitous as those photos of men posing with a fresh-caught fish. How did Machu Picchu, of all places, become a dating-app cliche? This satirical essay from McSweeney’s doesn’t answer that question, but has a great time poking fun at it.
From the time he came upon Machu Picchu in 1911, Hiram Bingham began removing artifacts and human remains from the site and bringing them back to Yale University. Yale's Peabody Museum held them for 100 years, despite demands by the Peruvian government and the public that they be repatriated. Finally, in 2011, Yale returned thousands of items, including ceramics, jewelry and human skeletons.
Machu Picchu gets all the attention, but it’s definitely not the only Inca ruin in the area. Some dedicated trekkers opt to see the sites through a multi-day hike down the Inca Trail, which spans 26 miles from the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu and reaches elevations as high as 13,800 feet above sea level. This 3D tour gives a sneak-preview of the ruins along the route, and the intense topography.
Less well-known but arguably more impressive than Machu Picchu is Sacsayhuamán, a 15th-century fortress-temple on the outskirts of Cusco. The site also features huge stones—some weighing more than 100 tons—carved into interlocking blocks and joined together through mortarless masonry. Archaeologists estimate it must’ve taken some 20,000 laborers to complete construction. This video offers a clickable 3D virtual-reality tour of the site.
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