Another marvel of Inca engineering is the famous city of Machu Picchu (/mahchoo/peekchoo/). Machu Picchu is a mountain fortress seven thousand feet above sea level, located about fifty miles northwest of Cuzco. It sits in a high valley, between two peaks of the Andes.

Today, visitors can stand in the center of Machu Picchu. From there, they can see the ruins of an open plaza, a temple, and a place where archaeologists discovered Inca skeletons. The surrounding hillside is terraced for farming. Archaeologists estimate that Machu Picchu was built in the mid-1400s. For years it was a vacation spot for Inca emperors.

Today it is the leading tourist attraction in Peru. Machu Picchu is not an easy place to visit. Tourists now take a railroad partway up the mountain. Then they follow a steep, twisting road to the top. Energetic hikers can walk on an old Inca trail that climbs up the steep slopes of the Andes.