Lake Titicaca Area Sights

Floating villages

There are several dozen man-made floating islands constructed of totora reeds that are bound together. These islands are the home of the Uros Indians. The floating villages were originally built as a means of defense. They continue to be home to living, working Indian communities, despite being major tourist draws. Two large communities of Uros are located near the Peruvian town of Puno, with one other on the Bolivian side of the lake.

Some of the islands on Lake Titicaca are home to pre-Incan and Incan ruins, and even were central locations in the Incan religion. On the Peruvian side, the island of Taquile has some pre-Incan ruins perched atop the island's highest hill. On the Bolivian Side, Isla del Luna and Isla del Sol are important Incan sites. Luna is where the god Viracocha is said to have placed the moon into the sky, and ruins of what may have been an Inca nunnery are there. Sol is home of the Incas' supreme god Inti as well as home to the ruins of the Sacred Rock and a maze-like building called Chicana.

Copacabana is a small town on the Bolivian side of the lake. It is a picturesque place but famed mostly for its lovely 16th century Spanish colonial church, the Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana. The church is a major pilgrimage destination for Catholics and for non-Christian indigenous people as well.