Description: Machu Picchu 101 | National Geographic, HOW TO GET TO MACHU PICCHU | The Ultimate Travel Guide - Everything You Need to Know Before Visiting, Machu Picchu's Hidden Secrets | Blowing Up History: Seven Wonders
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Machu Picchu (in hispanicized spelling, Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmatʃu ˈpiktʃu] ) or Machu Pikchu ( Quechua machu old, old person, pikchu peak; mountain or prominence with a broad base which ends in sharp peaks, "old peak", pronunciation [ˈmɑtʃu ˈpixtʃu] ) is a 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level . It is located in the Cusco Region , Urubamba Province , Machupicchu District in Peru .
It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Sacred Valley which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often mistakenly referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas" (a title more accurately applied to Vilcabamba ), it is the most familiar icon of Inca civilization .
The Incas built the estate around 1450, but abandoned it a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest . Although known locally, it was not known to the Spanish during the colonial period and remained unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham . Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of what the structures originally looked like. By 1976, 30% of Machu Picchu had bee