Machu Picchu is in the country of Peru, the continent of South America. It is located in the high Andes mountains. This was supposed to be built in the year 1450. But it was known to the outside world only in 1911.

Machu Picchu is a complex of 150 buildings. That too on very higher ground at around 11024 feet above the sea level. It lies on a mountain top. There are houses, temples, bathrooms etc. On the boundary of all these buildings, there are compound walls, stairs etc.

Its official name is the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu. Its meaning is ancient mountain. These types of settlements are many in number in Peru.

In olden days, in South America, Inca empire was the largest. During Inca regime, Spanish attacks and wars were common.

During the course of Spanish attacks and wars, Incas made settlements and cantonments all over their empire. As a part of this, they used to build complex of buildings hidden from the prying eyes of the enemies. But Spanish people used to find them out and demolish such buildings. Machu Picchu was one of such settlements built on a mountain top. Spanish people failed to find this out. That is why Machu Picchu is still standing.

In the building complex, there are staircases at more than hundred places. These were built by arranging heavy stones and soil.

Buildings were also constructed using stones which have average weight of 22 tonnes. These stones were arranged one on top of another to make a building. But they are arranged in such a way that even a blade cannot be inserted in between two stones. Such was their expertise.

Machu Picchu lies on mountain top but the stones stayed in their place and there is no rolling down of stones.

The building complex was built to withstand earthquakes. Such engineering is a wonder to the present generation engineers too.

In the complex, there is a royal estate, one secret assembly building are there.

In 1983, UNESCO has recognised Machu Picchu as one of the world heritage monuments.

Machu Picchu is also called the lost city of the Incas.

In a single day, only 2500 tourists are allowed into the Machu Picchu. It can be reached via Amazon forest. It is approximately 724 miles away from Lima, the Peruvian capital. A typical trip by land on a bus takes about 20 hours. One could also take a flight and arrive there in a heartbeat of one hour. The starting point usually begins in Lima.

From below, we can trek and reach mountain top where we can enter the Machu Picchu.

Annually, around 150,000 tourists visit Machu Picchu.

The climate is mild, warm and damp. It has a year-round average temperature of 55F during the day. There are typically two seasons, a rainy season which lasts from November to March and dry season, which lasts from April to October. Most travellers prefer to travel to the site during the dry season.