New Page 2

Tiwanaku is the name of a ruin of an ancient ceremonial city located between La Paz and Lake Titicaca. It is not an Inca ruin. It is even possible that Inca tourists visited it, because Tiwanaku had been in ruin for centuries by the time the Inca Empire rose to prominence in the 14th century. Actually, it is the best known site of a culture (the Tiwanaku culture) that was the dominant force on the Altiplano for over 2,000 years. Yes, over 2,000 years - the Tiwanakan culture was already around at the time of the Peloponnesian Wars, during the time of the Roman Empire, when Alfred the Great was unifying England - it dominated the Altiplano for a period equal to the "Christian Era" - the Inca Empire lasted only one-tenth as long.

Most respectable pre-Colombian ruins have a pyramid. Tiwanaku is no exception. Its pyramid, called the Akapana, is about 600 X 600 ft. and about 50 ft. high. Today, however, it is largely unexcavated. These pictures give hints of what the sides of the pyramid looked like. It was probably 5 tiered and had a notched shape rather than being rectangular.

	Near the pyramid is a small, rectangular, sunken courtyard surrounded by a wall composed of finely cut stone is fitted between large, vertical stone slabs. 316 carved stone heads face out into the courtyard from the lower portion of the wall.
	The Kalasasaya is a large rectangular platform raised up by another wall of fine cut stone fitted between large stone slabs. At each end are stairs and an entranceway.


The Tiwanakans made a lot of monoliths. These are both located on the raised platform. There are three in the sunken courtyard and others around Tiwanaku. The largest monolith of all was hauled off to La Paz in the 1930's. Plans are afoot to return it to its place of origin in the sunken courtyart.

This is the Puerta del Sol, the door of the sun, is located on the raised platform. It is carved from a single stone (now broken.) The center figure (over the doorway) represents the sun.

	The town of Tiahuanaco is located a few hundred yards from the ruins. It is small and dominated by its 16th century church. Befitting its location, there are monoliths guarding the church's entranceway.

Although the church itself has a simple, austere design, it is full of ornate statuary and lecterns.


On the day we visited Tiahuanaco, it was holding its annual festival. This means there was a lot of drinking, eating, and of course, long parades of costumed groups doing traditional dancers. This group is called a Morenada.

Bolivia, 2001