Machu Picchu Site Features

The Temple of the Sun

Set at one of the highest points within the citadel, the Temple of the Sun is Machu Picchu's only rounded structure, built with precisely fitted stonework aligned to track the sun and stars. Inca priests are thought to have used it for ceremonies and astronomical observation, and its windows are positioned to catch sunlight in specific ways around the June solstice -- a level of astronomical precision built directly into the architecture.

The Intihuatana Stone

Perched on the highest point of the site, the Intihuatana -- roughly "hitching post of the sun" -- is a carved granite pillar aligned with the sun's position at key points in the year. Inca astronomer-priests are believed to have used it to track the changing seasons, information that was essential for coordinating planting and harvest across the empire's agricultural calendar.

Agricultural terraces

Machu Picchu's steep mountainside is reshaped into roughly 5 hectares of stepped agricultural terraces, some stretching up to 100 meters long. Beyond preventing erosion and landslides on the slope, the terraces created distinct microclimates at different elevations, letting the Inca grow a range of crops, including maize, on a site that would otherwise have offered little flat, farmable ground.