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Sitting high above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, the Incan city of Machu Picchu, located in the Cusco region of Peru, is the most popular tourist attraction in the country.
This ancient city dates back to the fifteenth century and was built on the order of the first ruler of the Incan empire, known as the Sapa Inca Pachacuti. The city was inhabited for over one hundred years until the Spanish conquered Peru in 1532. The city was then lost for several hundred years and subsequently re-discovered by Western civilization in 1911 when locals showed an American historian named Hiram Bingham the site.
The exact function of the city is uncertain. The city is just five miles square and was inhabited by less than one thousand people. Some archeologists think that the city may have been a kind of country retreat for Incan nobility. Others see the site as a base established as an 'Ilacta' – a settlement from which the Sapa could maintain control over conquered regions. The city may have even fulfilled both functions – this particular Ilacta may have been built to protect the Incan aristocracy. The surrounding mountains and valleys provide natural defense from attack, and the city cannot be seen from the valley below. With natural springs providing water and the surrounding plateaus providing food, the city would have been entirely self-sufficient and well-protected.
Set at one of the highest points within the citadel, the Temple of the Sun is Machu Picchu's only rounded structure, built with precisely fitted stonework aligned to track the sun and stars. Inca priests are thought to have used it for ceremonies and astronomical observation, and its windows are positioned to catch sunlight in specific ways around the June solstice -- a level of astronomical precision built directly into the architecture.
Perched on the highest point of the site, the Intihuatana -- roughly "hitching post of the sun" -- is a carved granite pillar aligned with the sun's position at key points in the year. Inca astronomer-priests are believed to have used it to track the changing seasons, information that was essential for coordinating planting and harvest across the empire's agricultural calendar.
Machu Picchu's steep mountainside is reshaped into roughly 5 hectares of stepped agricultural terraces, some stretching up to 100 meters long. Beyond preventing erosion and landslides on the slope, the terraces created distinct microclimates at different elevations, letting the Inca grow a range of crops, including maize, on a site that would otherwise have offered little flat, farmable ground.
Machu Picchu is located just 70 kilometers (43 miles) northwest of the city of Cusco, and there are several options for traveling to the site.
The most common travel method is via train from Cusco, which takes around three and a half hours. From the train station, the city of Machu Picchu is an eight-kilometer bus ride away.
Alternatively, visitors can walk the Incan Trail, which involves a two-to-four day hike through the Andes from the Urubamba Valley to the gates of Machu Picchu, and requires a reasonable standard of physical fitness. The trail itself is of original Incan construction and passes by several Incan ruins. Due to concerns over the effects of overuse on the trails' condition, the Peruvian government has limited the number of people who can use this trail per season – booking is a must if you want to walk the Incan Trail.
Once in the area, hotel accommodations are available for visitors who wish to spend a day or two exploring the site. If you want to really enjoy your time visiting the city, it's best to spend at least one night close by, so that you have more than a few hours to spend in Machu Picchu itself.
The best times to visit the city are early in the morning or late in the afternoon because the site becomes very crowded between 11 am and around 3 pm. The first buses to Machu Picchu leave the valley at 6.30 am, and it is worth getting up early to get to the city in time to see the sunrise. Machu Picchu in the early morning has a certain feeling about it, of harmony and calm, which can make it a truly spiritual experience. This enigmatic city is well worth a visit – the quiet splendor of Machu Picchu is unforgettable.