Machu PicchuMachu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain ridge. Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is the most familiar icon of the Inca Empire. It is located in the Machupicchu District within Urubamba Province above the Sacred Valley, which is northwest of Cusco. The Urubamba River flows past it, cutting through the Cordillera and creating a canyon with a tropical mountain climate. In reference to the site’s name, for most speakers of English or Spanish, the first 'c' in Picchu is silent.
AndesThe Andes (ˈændiːz ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (Cordillera de los Andes; Anti) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S latitude), and has an average height of about . The Andes extend from north to south through seven South American countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.
Inca EmpireThe Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called Tawantinsuyu by its subjects (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts"), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The Inca civilization rose from the Peruvian highlands sometime in the early 13th century. The Spanish began the conquest of the Inca Empire in 1532 and by 1572, the last Inca state was fully conquered.
