History of Machu Picchu: Origins to Rediscovery

Machu Picchu was built around 1450 CE during the reign of the Inca emperor Pachacutec (Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui), the same ruler who transformed the small Cusco kingdom into the largest empire in the pre-Columbian Americas. The site was built, occupied, and abandoned in roughly a single century.

Why was it built?

The most widely accepted theory, supported by archaeologist Richard Burger and others, is that Machu Picchu was a royal estate (llaqta) for Pachacutec and his descendants — a private retreat for the emperor and his court, with attached agricultural terraces, religious shrines, and residences for permanent staff. Estimates suggest only 500-750 people lived there at any time, mostly servants, priests, and skilled artisans.

Other theories that have been less well-supported include:

A military fortress (rejected — the site shows no defensive features)
An astronomical observatory (true, but not its primary function)
A pilgrimage site (likely a secondary use)
The Inca capital (false — Cusco was always the capital)

How was it built?

The Incas had no iron tools, no wheel for transport, and no draft animals. They built Machu Picchu using stone tools, levers, ramps, and human labor — likely supplied by the mit'a (rotational labor service) system that all Inca subjects owed the state.

Granite blocks were quarried on-site or transported from nearby quarries, then shaped to fit so precisely that — in the most refined sectors like the Temple of the Sun — a knife blade cannot be inserted between stones. This style is called ashlar masonry. Less important structures use rougher fieldstone with mud mortar.

The site sits on two earthquake fault lines. The Incas engineered the foundations with internal drainage and floating-stone walls that flex during seismic events — which is why Machu Picchu has survived 500+ years and dozens of major earthquakes nearly intact.

Why was it abandoned?

The site was abandoned in the late 16th century, roughly 100 years after construction. The conventional account: the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire (1532-1572) disrupted the patronage networks that supported royal estates, and the surviving Inca elite retreated to Vilcabamba in the deeper jungle. Machu Picchu's remote location actually protected it — the Spanish never found it. No Spanish-era documents mention the site.

It was not entirely "lost" — local farmers in the Urubamba valley knew of the ruins and occasionally cultivated the lower terraces. But the world beyond the Andes had no idea it existed.

Hiram Bingham, 1911

On July 24, 1911, Yale historian Hiram Bingham III arrived at Machu Picchu, led there by a local farmer's son named Pablito Álvarez. Bingham was searching for Vilcabamba (the last Inca capital) and initially believed he had found it. He published his expedition results in 1913, and Machu Picchu entered global awareness.

Bingham was not the first non-Inca to see the site — German engineer Augusto Berns visited as early as 1867, and various Peruvians visited through the 19th century. Bingham was, however, the first to systematically document the site and bring it international attention.

Restoration and protection

1911-1915: Bingham's expeditions, with extensive excavation and removal of artifacts to Yale University.
1948: The Hiram Bingham Highway (the switchback road from Aguas Calientes to the citadel) was inaugurated.
1981: Machu Picchu declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary.
1983: UNESCO World Heritage Site (mixed cultural and natural).
2007: Named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
2010-2012: Yale returns ~40,000 artifacts to Peru, now displayed at the Casa Concha museum in Cusco.
2024: Current circuit-and-route system implemented (June 1) for visitor management.

What name should we use?

"Machu Picchu" (Quechua: Machu Pikchu — "old peak") was the name of the mountain on which the citadel sits. The settlement itself was likely called Llaqta de Patallaqta or simply Llaqta de Pikchu in Inca times. Modern official terminology uses Llaqta of Machupicchu for the archaeological complex.