IN PICS: 5 fascinating facts about Peru’s Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu in Peru, which was indefinitely closed on Jan 21, reopened to visitors on Feb 15, the national government confirmed

It is a site of ancient Inca ruins located about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Cuzco, Peru, in the Cordillera de Vilcabamba of the Andes Mountains

Listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site in 1983 and was announced as one of the Seven Wonders of the World in 2007, Machu Picchu is the heartland of visitors

Machu Picchu translates to ‘Old Mountain’ or ‘Old Peak’. It was a palace complex of the ruler Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (reigned c. 1438–71). Several dozen skeletons were excavated there in 1912

The site covers an area of more than 320 square kilometres (32,000 hectares) including the Temple of the Sun and Intihuatana stone, an astronomic clock tied in with the Inca calendar

Visitors arrive here by hiking the Inca Trail. The portion of the trail from the 'km 88' train stop to Machu Picchu is normally hiked in three to six days

It is composed of thousands of stone-cut steps, numerous high retaining walls, tunnels, and other feats of classical engineering. It is lined with Inca ruins of various types and sizes