Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu

The Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1983 as a mixed property, for its cultural and natural values alike. It protects some 326 km² in the province of Urubamba, in Cusco, above the canyon of the Urubamba River, on the eastern slope of the Andes.

The citadel, built around the middle of the fifteenth century during the reign of Pachacútec and abandoned a century later, is the most celebrated expression of Inca architecture: agricultural terraces, channels, walls of mortarless ashlar and ceremonial buildings fitted into an extreme topography, on a ridge between two peaks. It was never found by the Spanish and came to international notice in 1911 through Hiram Bingham, although it was known locally.

The natural component is equally substantial. The sanctuary occupies the ceja de selva, the belt of cloud forest where the Andes descend towards Amazonia, with a gradient running from 1,700 to more than 6,000 metres. It is home to the spectacled bear, the only South American bear, the cock-of-the-rock, more than four hundred orchid species and a very rich birdlife. Tourist pressure, with millions of accumulated visitors and limited access infrastructure, is its main management problem, and has led to daily quotas and timed visits.