Photo by Panoramio upload bot, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
🇵🇪 Peru · Cusco
Photo by Panoramio upload bot, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
🇵🇪 Peru · Cusco
♨ Temperature
42°C
⛰ Altitude
2040 m
⚗ pH
7.4
💧 TDS
680 mg/L
🌊 Flow rate
25 L/s
📅 Established
Inca period
✓ Verified on 2026-07-22
Aguas Calientes — officially Machu Picchu Pueblo — is the gateway village to Machu Picchu, site of the ancient Inca citadel and one of the world's most famous archaeological destinations. The town's thermal springs, used by Inca royalty and their retinue who occupied the mountain citadel, flow from the cloud forest flanks of the Urubamba valley at 42°C. The municipal thermal complex, built above the rushing Urubamba River in a landscape of cloud forest and dramatic Andean peaks, offers open-air pools fed by the same spring system the Inca court is believed to have used. A visit to Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu from Lima's Callao cruise port requires a flight to Cusco and a 3.5-hour train journey — one of the world's most spectacular rail routes — making it an extraordinary multi-day excursion.
| Bicarbonate | 310 mg/L |
| Calcium | 88 mg/L |
| Magnesium | 29 mg/L |
| Sulphate | 64 mg/L |
| Sodium | 42 mg/L |
The thermal springs at Aguas Calientes are documented in 16th-century Spanish colonial accounts that describe the Sapa Inca and his court bathing in mountain pools during their sojourns at Machu Picchu. The springs were a component of the Inca concept of 'pachacuti' — the renewal of the world through contact with the earth's vital forces, of which thermal waters were a primary manifestation. Aguas Calientes is part of the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of the world's most significant cultural and natural designations.
For the Inca, thermal springs were sacred connections to Pachamama (Earth Mother) and Apus (mountain spirits) — bathing in them was an act of communion with the divine forces of the Andean landscape. The springs at Aguas Calientes remain a place where contemporary Quechua-speaking communities perform traditional ceremonies, maintaining an unbroken spiritual continuity with pre-Columbian practice. The combination of Machu Picchu's archaeological monumentality and the intimate warmth of the spring pools creates an experience of cultural depth unique in the world.
Aguas Calientes operates under the management framework of the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with strict visitor management protocols. Daily visitor limits to both the citadel and the spring complex are enforced. Spring water extraction volumes are monitored by Peru's ANA (National Water Authority). The Peruvian government's 2021 master plan for the sanctuary includes spring conservation measures and a proposed cable car alternative to reduce footprint on the cloud forest trail.
Phone+51 84-211-196
Websitewww.machupicchu.gob.pe
AddressAguas Calientes (Machu Picchu Pueblo), Urubamba, Cusco Region, Peru