Machu Picchu in the Andes Mountains of Peru is one of the most mysterious of all ancient Inca sites. The city may have been a religious centre or a residence for the Inca royal family when they were away from Cusco, the Inca capital. Built sometime after 1438, Machu Picchu stands on a heavily forested mountaintop. Its more than 30 finely crafted stone buildings, including palaces, temples, tombs, and prisons, sit on terraces surrounding a central plaza. The Inca probably abandoned the city shortly after the Spaniards began their conquest of the Inca empire in 1532, though the Spaniards never saw the city.