About Puno
Puno city is the capital of the department of Puno. It was founded with the name
of "Villa Rica de San Carlos de Puno" in 1668, by the Viceroy Count of Lemos, to
end with the problems of possession of the silver mines of Laicacota of the
brothers Gaspar and José Salcedo.
Lake port beside the Titicaca, the highest
navigable lake in the world. It have landscapes of indescribable beauty, it has
been the origin and cradle of big pre-Hispanic civilizations as
Tiahuanaco, Collas and Aymaras, and of the mythical legend of Manco Capac
and Mama Ocllo who emerged of its waters and went to
Cuzco
to found the capital of the
Inca empire.
Living Culture: The Uros, famous and
ancestral people that live in floating artificial islands, or the indigenous
communities of Taquile and Amantani that maintain their customs and rites
without changes in the course of the time, amid unique landscapes.
Very near the city you will find interesting
archaeological remains of Pre-Hispanic cultures, as the chullpas of Sillustani
inside the Ecological Reserve of Umayo, Pucara, or old cities of Spanish
foundation as Chucuito, Juli and Pomata that harbor jewels of the architecture
and colonial art, expressed in their temples and churches that flourished as
product of the fortune of the silver mines of this region and the Spanish
conquest of the Paraguay and of the Mojos.
Puno has been denominated the "Capital folklórica
del Perú" (folkloric capital of Peru) by the wealth of its artistic and cultural
expressions. Especially through the dance; there are registered more than 300
from the 1,500 existing in the national environment, autochthonous dances that
reach their biggest manifestation in the celebrations of the Feast of the
"Virgen de la Candelaria" and the Regional Contest of Autochthonous Dances.
The native resident of Puno is of the ethnos
Aymara (12.9% population of Peru); their language is the Aymara. For the
subsistence in height average of 4,000 meters above sea level (13,122 feet) and
with a cold climate, they have achieved an excellent adaptation. The color of
its skin is dark, high lung capacity and development of the thorax; they have
two more litters of blood then the average, with high content of red globules,
what grant them great physical resistance. Many of them are dedicated to
the elaboration of beautiful crafts and fine fabrics in alpaca wool.
In the plains and mountains of Puno it will be
common to find herds of llamas and alpacas, being the area of more intense
development of this cattle raising, originating beautiful panoramas in places
where trees and vegetation almost not exist.
Visiting Lake Titicaca and
Puno
Puno City
The beauty and charm of the city, are a mixture of their typical constructions
of Andean architecture in the sides of the hills until the bank of the Titicaca
Lake, and that of their people, humble, poor and kind. Visit Plaza de Armas, the
Cathedral, La Casa del Corregidor 17th Century (Deustua Nº 576), the Arco
Deustua, Huasajpata Park and the new Mirador del Condor
Museums in Puno
It has modest museums of regional archaeological pieces as the Museo Municipal
Carlos Dreyer (Municipal Museum Dreyer) located in Conde de Lemos Nº 289 and the
Museo de Arte Popular de Puno (Museum of Popular Art of Puno).
Lake Titicaca
The highest navigable lake in the world where going through their waters is to
travel by beautiful landscapes having for nice scenery the snowy mountain of the
Cordillera Real (Real Mountain range) of Bolivia. Inside the lake exist a
protected area of the natural ecosystem, you can also visit the islands of Uros,
Taquile and Amantani, or carry out a short cruise to Copacabana in Bolivia.
Floating Islands of the Uros
Lake Titicaca's top tourist attraction. Old descending Aymaras that build their
houses over floating artificial islands that elaborate themselves on the waters
of the Titicaca, in which they inhabit in organizations and with ancestral
customs.
Amantani and Taquile Islands
These islands offer to tourists an authentic travel to the past, sharing the
life with local natives and beautiful landscapes. The tourist are accommodation
in a family house and all activities will be with natives. Is a real experience
of rural tourism. In these areas visitors come into contact with ancient
communities, and have the opportunity to share their ways of life and see their
splendid textiles. Conscious of the value that living cultures mean to travelers
from every corner of the world, a number of communities in Puno have opened to
rural and experienced based tourism, both in the island and on land. It is there
were the ventures of Taquile, Amantani, Uros and Llachon can be found. The
visitor to Amantani or Taquile islands will visit Uros island on the route.
Recommended program 2 days / 1 night.
Taquile Island Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity
UNESCO proclaimed to Taquile Island and its textile art as a new Oral and
Intangible Heritage of Humanity. On November 25, 2005 the Director-General of
UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, proclaimed 43 new Masterpieces of the Oral and
Intangible Heritages of Humanity.
Archaeological places of Puno
On the area of Puno flourished old pre-Inca civilizations like Tiahuanaco,
Pucara and then the Inca. The best legacies are the chullpas of Sillustani and
the fortress and citadel of Pucara and his Museo Litico Pucara.
Around Puno
Cities and small towns that flourished to the banks of the Lake Titicaca keep
architectonic colonial jewels, outstands Pomata, Juli and Chucuito. These cities
can be visited in the route to Desaguadero or Copacabana - Bolivia.
Yavari Project
This steamship was build in United Kingdom in 1861, then was discharged in
packing cases and pieces in Peruvian port of Arica, from where incredibly being
hauled by mule over the Andes to Puno, that took 6 years to complete. Now is
registered as Museum, berthed in Puno Bay, outside the Sonesta Posada Hotel del
Inca Puno.
Virgin of
Candelaria Feast
The Feast in honor of Virgin of Candelaria, patron of the city of Puno, is made
in the first fortnight of February each year, and represents the largest and
most important cultural event, musical and dancing by Peru, and one of the three
most significant in South America along with Carnival in Rio de Janeiro and the
Carnaval de Oruro, in the amount of symbols and artistic and cultural
manifestations of the cultures themselves Quechua, Aymara and mixed by Highlands
Andean and the volume of people directly and indirectly involved in its
realization.
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