Intihuatana, Urubamba, Sundial at Machu Picchu, Peru

The Intihuatana is a ritual stone carved directly into the bedrock of Machu Picchu's summit. It has a slightly inclined top plane and an upright column tilting 13 degrees northward, with complex surfaces and angles. A granite block resembling a shelf or altar and a rectangular base are also part of the carving.

This stone was built during the 15th century under Emperor Pachacútec's rule, when Machu Picchu served as a major Inca center. It remained hidden from the outside world for centuries until explorers brought attention to the site in the early 1900s.

The Quechua name means "where the sun is tied", from inti (sun) and watana (tie). The Inca held that the stone kept the sun on its annual path; at midday on the equinoxes and on 11 November and 30 January it casts almost no shadow. The four faces of the upper block point to the cardinal directions.

The monolith stands on the summit of a natural mound reached by two long access staircases, on the north and south; the southern one is cut into a single rock for a long stretch. The stone is roped off and cannot be touched, and the summit area is narrow, so groups move through in turn.

The name combines two Quechua words: Inti means sun and Huatana means to tie or hold fast. This naming reflects how the Inca viewed the stone as a place where they could, in a symbolic sense, capture or anchor the sun itself.