Machu Picchu history: Secrets of the Lost Inca Citadel

Machu Picchu was built during the reign of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, one of the greatest rulers of the Inca Empire. Unlike other cities on the plains, this citadel was hidden high in the Andes, accessible only by steep trails and suspension bridges. Archaeologists believe it was a blend of royal retreat, religious center, and astronomical observatory. Even the surrounding peaks, like Huayna Picchu, were sacred landmarks in Inca cosmology.

When Spanish conquistadors dismantled the Inca Empire, Machu Picchu was quietly deserted. The Spanish never actually found it, which explains why its temples remained intact while other Inca sites were looted. Scholars suspect epidemics or a shift in political power left the citadel without its purpose. Over time, vegetation swallowed its terraces, and only local Quechua communities remembered the “old mountain.”

In 1911, American historian Hiram Bingham was guided by locals to the overgrown site. What he found was astonishing: walls of precisely cut stone still standing, ritual baths still intact, and terraces cascading like green staircases down the mountainside. National Geographic published his photographs, and Machu Picchu instantly became a global fascination—a “lost city” reintroduced to the modern world.

Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, Machu Picchu now stands as both a tourist magnet and a conservation challenge. Millions walk through its sacred plazas each year, gazing at the Temple of the Sun, the Room of the Three Windows, and the mysterious Intihuatana stone, believed to have been a solar clock. Peru strictly limits daily visitor numbers to protect the site, striking a balance between accessibility and preservation.

Those gorgeous terraces cascading down the mountainside weren’t built for Instagram backdrops (though, let’s be honest, they work). They stabilized the mountain and created microclimates to grow crops at different elevations. They were high-altitude refrigerators before refrigerators existed.

This is where Incas spent their daily lives, around temples, plazas, and royal residences, where rituals and politics unfolded. Highlights include the Temple of the Sun, with its curved walls catching the solstice sunrise, and the Room of the Three Windows.