Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu
Located 2,430 metres above sea level. Machu Picchu is located in the Cusco Region of Peru, South America. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is80 kilometres northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti.
Geography
MachuPicchu lies in the southern hemisphere, 13.164 degrees south of the equator. It is 80 kilometers northwest of Cusco, on the crest of the mountain Machu Picchu, located about 2,430 metres above mean sealevel, over 1,000 metres lower than Cusco, which has an altitude of 3,600 metres As such, it had a milder climate than the Inca capital. It is one of the most important archaeological sites in SouthAmerica, one of the most visited tourist attractions in all of Latin America and the most visited tourist attraction in Peru.
The year at Machu Picchu is divided between wet and dry seasons, with themajority of annual rain falling from October through to April. It can rain at any time of the year.[
Desing
The site is roughly divided into an urban sector and an agricultural sector, as well as theupper town and the lower town. The temples are part of the upper town, the warehouses the lower
The architecture is adapted to the natural form of the mountains. Approximately 200 buildings arearranged on wide parallel terraces around a vast central square that is oriented east-west. The various kanchas or compounds are long and narrow in order to exploit the terrain. Extensive terraces wereused for agriculture and sophisticated channeling systems provided irrigation for the fields. Numerous stone stairways set in the walls allowed access to the different levels across the site. Theeastern section of the city was probably residential. The western, separated by the square, was for religious and ceremonial purposes. This section contains the Torreón, the massive tower which may have...