Macchu PicchuMachu Picchu, (old peak), is an ancient Inca site that is about 8,000 feet above sea level. It is on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley which is fifty miles NW of Cuzco. Machu Picchu is one of the most familiar symbols of the Incan Empire. Machu Picchu was constructed around 1462, when the Incan Empire was its tallest. It was abandoned a little less than 100 years later. It is said that most of its population was wiped out from smallpox before the Spanish Conquistadors arrived in the area. Many believe Machu Picchu was built as an estate served for the Incan Emperor, Pachacuti.
