Tiahuanaco

   The vast area of cyclopean ruins, several square miles in area, at Tihuanaco, a few miles from the shores of Lake Titicaca, 15,000 feet above sea level, are those of a civilization which was already extinct when the first Incas arrived in South America. Although the ruins are now over thirteen miles from Lake Titicaca, the existence of wharfs and docks shows that at some remote period Tiahuanaco must have been a thriving port on a vast inland sea, some 350 miles from north to south, situated in the Andes. The mystery of this culture has baffled investigators for years. The great monolithic gateway of the temple of the sun is the largest example of its kind in the world. The rows of figures which decorate this gateway have been interpreted as consituting an ancient calendar. The god to whom this temple was built may have been Mancocoapac, or Viracocha. Temples also existed here to Copacati and Ka-Ata-Killa. When the Spaniards arrived in Peru they were told by the Incas that in the ancient days when there was no sun but only the moon and the stars, there lived a race of giants who built palaces and temples at Tiahuanaco. To them came a prophet who proclaimed the coming of the sun. The children of night, however, did not believe him and stoned him. Nevertheless, the sun rose and under its rays the godless race all perished and their bodies petrified into colossal blocks of stone. Another version says they were punished for having sacrificed to the moon goddess, Ka-Ata-Killa.