The question of why Machu Picchu itself was created is very different than why it was made into the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu was built for the Pachacutec emperor as a city for 300-1000 elite members (Inca Trail Machu, 2023). It was then made into the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu to preserve its cultural, historical, and natural significance. Machu Picchu has a diverse range of plants and animals as well as being sacred to the Indigenous people of Peru so it was made a protected area. According to UNESCO (n.d.-b), the reason it became a World Heritage Site was because it was a masterpiece of art, urbanism, agriculture, & engineering of the Incas, it shows the distribution of territory control, social, religious, & administrative organization, it shows the harmonious relationship between human and nature, and it has a diverse array of microclimates, habitats, & species of flora and fauna.