 Copacabana - Bolivia (Photos
© Jorge Mazzotti - July 10) |
Copacabana is the main Bolivian town on the shore
of Lake Titicaca, from where boats leave for Isla del Sol, the sacred Inca
island. The town has a large 16th-century shrine, the Basilica of Our Lady of
Copacabana. Our Lady of Copacabana is the patron saint of Bolivia.
The town is a destination for tourism in Bolivia. The town is also known for its
famous Basilica, home of the Virgin of Copacabana, its trout, and its quaint
atmosphere. Built between Mount Calvario and Mount Niño Calvario, the town has
approximately 6,000 inhabitants. Copacabana's religious celebrations, cultural
patrimony, and traditional festivals are well known throughout Bolivia.
There is the belief that the name is derived from the Aymara kota kahuana,
meaning "view of the lake." Nevertheless, the social scientist Mario Montaño
Aragón, found in the "archives of Indias" in Sevilla, Spain, a completely
different history: "Kotakawana" is the god of the fertility in the ancient
Andean mythology, the equivalent to the classical Greek goddess Aphrodite or the
Roman Venus. This god is androgyne and lives in the Titicaca, and his court
consists of criters (male and female) that are represented in the colonial
sculptures as in the Catholic churches they were called "Umantuus", known as
mermaids in Western culture.
The fact is that the present Basilica was built where the main Temple of the
Fertility of Kotakawana was once (nowadays there are small fertility temples
along the shores of the lake in Bolivia and Peru). Copacabana has therefore been
a Sacred place even before the Spanish conquest. (Source:
Wikipedia) |
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Copacabana |
Copacabana |
Copacabana |
Copacabana Bay |
Copacabana Bay |
Copacabana Bay |
Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana |
Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana |
Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana |
Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana |
Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana |
Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana |
Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana |
Virgin of Candelaria |
Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana |
Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana |
Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana |
Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana |
Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana |
Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana |
Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana |
Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana |
Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana |
Francisco Tupac Yupanqui |
Copacabana |
Baptism of cars |
Copacabana |
Copacabana |
Copacabana |
Copacabana |
Handicrafts |
Handicrafts |
Handicrafts |
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Our
gratitude to
Transturin that allowed us
to
obtain these photos |
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