Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu

The Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu is a protected area in Peru covering over 35,000 hectares. It includes the natural environment surrounding the Machu Picchu archaeological site, located in the rugged cloud forest of the Yungas on the eastern slope of the Peruvian Andes and along both banks of the Urubamba River, which flows northwest in this section. This unique protected area encompasses one of the most extraordinary altitudinal transects in Peru, spanning only about twenty kilometers and protecting diverse ecosystems ranging from eternal snows at over 4,000 meters above sea level to tropical rainforests just over 1,700 meters above sea level.