page_title: Machu Picchu
section_title: Entrance restrictions
hierarchical_section_title: Machu Picchu / Site / Entrance restrictions
caption_attribution_description: English: Artifact collected on Bingham's 1912 expedition to Macchu Picchu on display in the Museo Machu Picchu, Casa Concha, Cusco
context_page_description: Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel, located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru, on a 2,430-metre mountain ridge. It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District, above the Sacred Valley, which is 80 kilometres northwest of Cuzco. The Urubamba River flows past it, cutting through the Cordillera and creating a canyon with a tropical mountain climate.
  For most speakers of English or Spanish, the first 'c' in Picchu is silent. In English, the name is pronounced or,
  in Spanish as or,
  and in Quechua as.
  Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was constructed as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti. Often mistakenly referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", 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.
context_section_description: In July 2011, the Dirección Regional de Cultura Cusco (DRC) introduced new entrance rules to the citadel of Machu Picchu. The tougher entrance rules attempted to reduce the effects of tourism. Entrance was limited to 2,500 visitors per day, and entrance to Huayna Picchu (within the citadel) was further restricted to 400 visitors per day. In 2018, additional restrictions were placed on entrance. Three entrance phases will be implemented, increased from two phases previously, to further help the flow of traffic and reduce degradation of the site due to tourism.
  In May 2012, a team of UNESCO conservation experts called upon Peruvian authorities to take "emergency measures" to further stabilize the site's buffer zone and protect it from damage, particularly in the nearby town of Aguas Calientes, which had grown rapidly.
caption: Artifact collected on Bingham's 1912 expedition, on display at the Museo Machu Picchu
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