Machu Picchu was built by the Inca civilization, most likely under Emperor Pachacuti around 1450 CE. Far from being a mysterious lost city built by unknown hands, it was a carefully planned royal estate and ceremonial center raised stone by stone by skilled laborers working through the Inca mit’a system.
Machu Picchu sits at roughly 7,970 feet above sea level in the Peruvian Andes, perched on a narrow ridge between two mountain peaks, surrounded on three sides by sheer cliffs that drop thousands of feet into the Urubamba River valley below. It is one of the most photographed sites on Earth, one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, and one of the most searched topics in archaeology.
