Tiwanaku: Precursor to the Inca Empire

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Finding ourselves with a layover day in La Paz, we decided to take a short little day trip to a nearby archeological site called Tiwanaku (or Tiahuanaco). We boarded a little bus with a bunch of other tourists from all over the globe and rode about an hour and a half to the site, which is near the south eastern shore of Lake Titicaca. Our guide took us into the small museum and around the site explaining the history of the Tiahuanco people, believed to be the cultural predecessor to the Incas.

Much of the site is in poor condition due to being looted by other ancient groups and of course, by the Spanish. We were taken to the colonial period church in the nearby town to see that it had been built with rocks pilfered at the site.

Every year on the winter solstice, medicine men and other healer types still gather for a ceremony at this site. And here's an interesting note I found on the internet..On January 21, 2006 newly-elected Bolivian president Evo Morales attended an indigenous spiritual ceremony at Tiwanaku where he was crowned as Apu Mallku ("Supreme Leader") by indigenous people of the Altiplano and received gifts from many groups of indigenous peoples from various parts of Latin America and the world.

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