Puno

When on a Peru vacation, you can visit Puno situated on the shores of Lake Titicaca in southeastern Peru, Puno is the capital city of the region and province that shares its name. Due to the myths that surround Lake Titicaca and the cultural activities that exist in Puno, the city has been named the “Folklore Capital of Peru”.

The Pukará and Tiahuanaco people inhabited Puno before the arrival of the Incas. Incan mythology states that Manco Cápac, the original Incan chieftain, was said to have risen from the waters of Lake Titicaca along with his sister to form the Incan Empire. As a result, a lake is still a sacred place today. When the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, they found a great deal of wealth due to minerals discovered at Laykakota. The city was officially founded by the Viceroy Pedro Antonio Fernández de Castro in 1668 and during the Spanish colonial period, Puno became a very wealthy city.