Claim: Machu Picchu was part of an empire in pre-columbian America.

Machu Picchu -LRB- -LSB- ˈmatʃu ˈpitʃu -RSB- -RRB- -LRB- Machu Pikchu -LSB- ˈmɑtʃu ˈpixtʃu -RSB- -RRB- is a 15th-century Inca citadel situated on a mountain ridge 2430 m above sea level . It is located in the Cusco Region , Urubamba Province , Machupicchu District in Peru , above the Sacred Valley , which is 80 km 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 -LRB- 1438 -- 1472 -RRB- . Often mistakenly referred to as the `` Lost City of the Incas '' -LRB- a title more accurately applied to Vilcabamba -RRB- , 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 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 Inti Watana , 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 , thirty percent of Machu Picchu had been restored and restoration continues .   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 .