Machu Picchu trivia | 50 facts about the Inca citadel

Machu Picchu is most-visited touristic site in Peru. Many people know Machu Picchu as a mysterious place that once belonged to Incas.

So, let’s try and “solve” the mystery around Machu Picchu by learning more about it.

Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel.
It is located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru, on a 2,430-metre (7,970 ft) mountain ridge.
It is located in the Machupicchu District within Urubamba Province above the Sacred Valley, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cuzco.
The Urubamba River flows past it, cutting through the Cordillera and creating a canyon with a tropical mountain climate.
Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was constructed as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472).
It is often mistakenly referred to as the “Lost City of the Incas”.
Machu Picchu is the most familiar icon of Inca civilization.
The Incas built the estate around 1450.
They 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.
It remained unknown until American historian Hiram Bingham brought it to international attention in 1911.
Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls.
Its three primary structures are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows.
Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of how they originally appeared.
By 1976, 30% of Machu Picchu had been restored.
The restoration is still going on.
Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historic Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.
In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide internet poll.
In the Quechua language, machu means “old” or “old person”, while pikchu means either “portion of coca being chewed” or “pyramid, pointed multi-sided solid; cone”.
Thus the name of the site is sometimes interpreted as “old mountain”.
Machu Picchu is more than 7,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains.
Machu Picchu is the most visited tourist destination in Peru.
It’s a symbol of the Incan Empire.
Little information describes human sacrifices at Machu Picchu.
Many sacrifices were never given a proper burial, and their skeletal remains succumbed to the elements.
However, there is evidence that retainers were sacrificed to accompany a deceased noble in the afterlife.
Animal, liquid and dirt sacrifices to the gods were more common, made at the Altar of the Condor.
The tradition is upheld by members of the New Age Andean religion.
This semicircular temple is built on the same rock overlying Bingham’s “Royal Mausoleum”.
It is similar to the Temple of the Sun found in Cusco and the Temple of the Sun found in Pisac, in having what Bingham described as a “parabolic enclosure wall”. The stonework is of ashlar quality.
Within the temple is a 1.2 m by 2.7 m rock platform, smooth on top except for a small platform on its southwest quadrant.
A “Serpent’s Door” faces 340°, or just west of north, opening onto a series of 16 pools, and affording a view of Huayna Picchu.
The Inca constellation Qullca, storehouse, can be viewed out the Qullqa Window at sunset during the 15th-century June Solstice, hence the window’s name.
At the same time, the Pleaides are at the opposite end of the sky.
Also seen through this window on this night are the constellations Llamacnawin, Llama, Unallamacha, Machacuay, and the star Pachapacariq Chaska (Canopus).

Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel.
It is located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru, on a 2,430-metre (7,970 ft) mountain ridge.
It is located in the Machupicchu District within Urubamba Province above the Sacred Valley, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cuzco.
The Urubamba River flows past it, cutting through the Cordillera and creating a canyon with a tropical mountain climate.
Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was constructed as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472).
It is often mistakenly referred to as the “Lost City of the Incas”.
Machu Picchu is the most familiar icon of Inca civilization.
The Incas built the estate around 1450.
They 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.
It remained unknown until American historian Hiram Bingham brought it to international attention in 1911.
Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls.
Its three primary structures are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows.
Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of how they originally appeared.
By 1976, 30% of Machu Picchu had been restored.
The restoration is still going on.
Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historic Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.
In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide internet poll.
In the Quechua language, machu means “old” or “old person”, while pikchu means either “portion of coca being chewed” or “pyramid, pointed multi-sided solid; cone”.
Thus the name of the site is sometimes interpreted as “old mountain”.
Machu Picchu is more than 7,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains.
Machu Picchu is the most visited tourist destination in Peru.
It’s a symbol of the Incan Empire.
Little information describes human sacrifices at Machu Picchu.
Many sacrifices were never given a proper burial, and their skeletal remains succumbed to the elements.
However, there is evidence that retainers were sacrificed to accompany a deceased noble in the afterlife.
Animal, liquid and dirt sacrifices to the gods were more common, made at the Altar of the Condor.
The tradition is upheld by members of the New Age Andean religion.
This semicircular temple is built on the same rock overlying Bingham’s “Royal Mausoleum”.
It is similar to the Temple of the Sun found in Cusco and the Temple of the Sun found in Pisac, in having what Bingham described as a “parabolic enclosure wall”. The stonework is of ashlar quality.
Within the temple is a 1.2 m by 2.7 m rock platform, smooth on top except for a small platform on its southwest quadrant.
A “Serpent’s Door” faces 340°, or just west of north, opening onto a series of 16 pools, and affording a view of Huayna Picchu.
The Inca constellation Qullca, storehouse, can be viewed out the Qullqa Window at sunset during the 15th-century June Solstice, hence the window’s name.
At the same time, the Pleaides are at the opposite end of the sky.
Also seen through this window on this night are the constellations Llamacnawin, Llama, Unallamacha, Machacuay, and the star Pachapacariq Chaska (Canopus).

Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel.
It is located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru, on a 2,430-metre (7,970 ft) mountain ridge.
It is located in the Machupicchu District within Urubamba Province above the Sacred Valley, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cuzco.
The Urubamba River flows past it, cutting through the Cordillera and creating a canyon with a tropical mountain climate.
Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was constructed as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472).
It is often mistakenly referred to as the “Lost City of the Incas”.
Machu Picchu is the most familiar icon of Inca civilization.
The Incas built the estate around 1450.
They 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.
It remained unknown until American historian Hiram Bingham brought it to international attention in 1911.
Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls.
Its three primary structures are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows.
Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give tourists a better idea of how they originally appeared.
By 1976, 30% of Machu Picchu had been restored.
The restoration is still going on.
Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historic Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.
In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide internet poll.
In the Quechua language, machu means “old” or “old person”, while pikchu means either “portion of coca being chewed” or “pyramid, pointed multi-sided solid; cone”.
Thus the name of the site is sometimes interpreted as “old mountain”.
Machu Picchu is more than 7,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains.
Machu Picchu is the most visited tourist destination in Peru.
It’s a symbol of the Incan Empire.
Little information describes human sacrifices at Machu Picchu.
Many sacrifices were never given a proper burial, and their skeletal remains succumbed to the elements.
However, there is evidence that retainers were sacrificed to accompany a deceased noble in the afterlife.
Animal, liquid and dirt sacrifices to the gods were more common, made at the Altar of the Condor.
The tradition is upheld by members of the New Age Andean religion.
This semicircular temple is built on the same rock overlying Bingham’s “Royal Mausoleum”.
It is similar to the Temple of the Sun found in Cusco and the Temple of the Sun found in Pisac, in having what Bingham described as a “parabolic enclosure wall”. The stonework is of ashlar quality.
Within the temple is a 1.2 m by 2.7 m rock platform, smooth on top except for a small platform on its southwest quadrant.
A “Serpent’s Door” faces 340°, or just west of north, opening onto a series of 16 pools, and affording a view of Huayna Picchu.
The Inca constellation Qullca, storehouse, can be viewed out the Qullqa Window at sunset during the 15th-century June Solstice, hence the window’s name.
At the same time, the Pleaides are at the opposite end of the sky.
Also seen through this window on this night are the constellations Llamacnawin, Llama, Unallamacha, Machacuay, and the star Pachapacariq Chaska (Canopus).
Machu Picchu was an astronomical observatory, and its sacred Intihuatana stone accurately indicates the two equinoxes.
The Intihuatana stone is one of many ritual stones in South America. These stones are arranged to point directly at the sun during the winter solstice.
The name of the stone (perhaps coined by Bingham) derives from Quechua language: inti means “sun”, and wata-, “to tie, hitch (up)”. The suffix -na derives nouns for tools or places.
Hence Intihuatana is literally an instrument or place to “tie up the sun”, often expressed in English as “The Hitching Post of the Sun”.
The Inca believed the stone held the sun in its place along its annual path in the sky.The stone is situated at 13°9’48” S.
At midday on 11 November and 30 January, the sun stands almost exactly above the pillar, casting no shadow.
On 21 June, the stone casts the longest shadow on its southern side.
On 21 December a much shorter shadow on its northern side.
Machu Picchu is made up of more than 150 buildings ranging from baths and houses to temples and sanctuaries.
Machu Picchu was in a hidden location—invisible from below—and not found, making it one of the most well-preserved Inca cities and an archeological gem.
The Incas were some of the best masons in the world.
The structures were so well built with a technique called ashlar (stones that are cut to fit together without mortar) that not even a knife blade can fit in between stones.
Many different theories exist about Machu Picchu’s purpose—a royal estate and a secret ceremonial center among them.
Each stone was precisely cut to fit together so tightly that no mortar was needed to keep the walls standing.
A certain artist called Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa (1503-1506) during the height of the Inca empire