THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Bolivia - page 163

ISLA DEL SOL AND THE INCAS
TheremainsofritualofferingsfoundbyarcheologistsshowthatIsladelSolwasanimport-
ant local religious shrine long before the arrival of the Incas. When the island came under
Tiwanaku control around 500 AD, larger ritual complexes were built and pilgrimages to
the island began. Under Inca rule , though, the island was transformed into a pan-Andean
pilgrimage destination visited annually bythousandsofpeople fromacrosstheempire. The
Incas believed the creator god Viracocha rose from the waters of Lago Titicaca and called
forth the sun and moon from a rock on the island. They also claimed the founding fathers
of their own dynasty - Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo - were brought into being here
by Viracocha before travelling north to establish the city of Cusco and spread civilization
throughout the Andes. In fact, it's very unlikely the Incas originated on the shores of the
lake. This dynastic myth was probably an attempt to add legitimacy to the Inca regime by
associating them with Lago Titicaca and the birthplace of the sun - from which the Inca
rulers claimed to be directly descended - as well as providing a link with the pre-existing
Tiwanaku civilization that was based on the shores of the lake.
After conquering the region in the mid-fifteenth century, the Incas invested heavily in
building roads, agricultural terraces, shrines and temples on Isla del Sol, and establishing
thetownof Copacabana asastop-offpointforpilgrims.TheentireCopacabanapeninsula,
as well as the sacred islands, was cleared of its indigenous Lupaqa and Colla population
and turned into a restricted sacred area , its original populace being replaced by loyal set-
tlers from elsewhere in the empire, who maintained the places of worship, attended to the
needs of the astronomer priests and visiting pilgrims, and cultivated maize for use in elab-
orate religious rituals. A wall was built across the neck of the peninsula at Yunguyo, with
gates where guards controlled access to Copacabana (nearly five centuries later the penin-
sula isstill separated fromthe rest ofthe mainland bythe borderbetween PeruandBolivia,
which follows almost exactly the same line). Pilgrims entering Copacabana would abstain
from salt, meat and chilli and spend several days praying at the complex of shrines here be-
fore walking round to the tip of the peninsula at Yampupata, from where they would cross
over the water to Isla del Sol.
Part of the island's religious importance was no doubt related to the fertility of its fields.
Insulated by the waters of the lake, Isla del Sol enjoys slightly higher average temperatures
than the mainland, as a result of which its terraced slopes produce more and better maize
than anywhere else in the region. Maize was a sacred crop for the Incas anyway, but that
grown on Isla del Sol was especially important. Though most was used to make chicha
(maize beer) for use in rituals on the island, grains of maize from the Isla del Sol were dis-
tributed across the Inca empire , carried by returning pilgrims who believed that a single
grain placed in their stores would ensure bountiful harvests for ever more.