Machu Picchu is a fifteenth century Inca citadel built on a mountain ridge in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru, at an elevation of about 2,430 meters. It lies in the Machupicchu District of Urubamba Province, roughly 80 kilometers northwest of Cusco, above the Sacred Valley, where the Urubamba River cuts a deep canyon through a subtropical mountain climate. Its dry stone construction, terraced into the mountainside, has made it one of the most widely recognized surviving examples of Inca architecture.
Facts
Building Type Completed YearEstimated construction date; the exact building chronology is not precisely documented. Classification
Standing Status Building Type
Building Type (category) Connections
Has Building Type
In Style
The 15th-century Inca royal estate, the canonical example of Inca architecture and stonemasonry.
Uses Element
Built from granite blocks quarried on site and shaped with such precision that many walls need no mortar.
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Source Wikipedia: Machu Picchu
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1. Wikipedia: Machu Picchu
WikipediaLead paragraph, opening sentence describing it as a 15th-century Inca citadel
Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of
Lead paragraph, sentence naming its location in southern Peru
southern Peru on a mountain ridge at 2,430 meters (7,970 ft).
Lead paragraph, sentence giving the estimated construction date
Estimated to be built around 1450, it is believed to have served as an
- Wikipedia "Machu Picchu" intro (read live, w-fk-arch-rel2-0927c, R-K)
Lead section
Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain ridge at 2,430 meters (7,970 ft). It is situated in the Machupicchu District of Urubamba Province about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Cusco, above the Sacred Valley and along the Urubamba River, which forms a deep canyon with a subtropical mountain climate.
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