Archaeologists have divided Machu Picchu into three great districts: (1) the Sacred District, which includes Intiwatana, the Temple of the Sun and the Room of the Three-Windows, (2) the District of the Priests and the Nobility (residential area) and (3) the Popular District, in the southern part of the city, where the living quarters of most of the population are located. 

All the buildings of the city maintain their classic Inca architectonic style: buildings with polished dry-stone walls (ashlar) of regular shape, perfect junctures between the blocks of stone and a slight slope or inclination, which makes the base stand out slightly.

achu Picchu is also known as the city of platforms, stairways and water fountains.  In some cases, stairways of eight to ten steps have been sculpted entirely with one slab of granite rock.  Machu Picchu hosts an abundance of ponds and water fountains known as ¨pacchas¨, sculpted in rock and interconnected by channels and sewers drilled within the rocks.