The stonework at Machu Picchu is why the citadel is still standing. Dry-set polygonal blocks, no mortar, cut so precisely that a credit card won’t fit between them. Walls deliberately leaning inward for earthquake resistance. Blocks interlocking in three dimensions. The technique is called ashlar masonry and the Incas took it further than anyone else.
The showpieces are the Temple of the Sun (semi-circular, built around a boulder altar, with a window aligned to the June solstice sunrise), the Royal Tomb carved into bedrock below it, and the Intihuatana ritual stone on the upper plaza.
Peruways guided tours spend time on the construction technique rather than rushing past it. Our guides are licensed Peruvian historians who can explain what you are actually looking at — the earthquake-proofing, the solstice alignments, the water system that still runs through the citadel after 500 years.
Book a Machu Picchu guided tour at Peruways.
