Go Geometry Machu Picchu, Inca City

Lake Titicaca and Inca Manco Capac

To navigate, drag the navigation bar button above in the direction you want to look.

Lake Titicaca, the cradle of Incan civilization, and the origin of the Inca Empire is the highest lake navigable in the world, at 12,506 ft (3,812 m) above sea level. It covers some 3,200 sq mi (8,300 sq km) and is 120 mi (190 km) long by 50 mi (80 km) wide. A narrow strait joins the lake's two bodies of water, which have 41 islands, some densely populated (Uros, Taquile, Amantaní, Isla Del Sol). The remains of one of the oldest known American civilizations have been found in the area. Temple ruins on Titicaca Island mark the spot where, according to legend, the founders of the Inca were sent down to earth by the sun.

Located in the Altiplano, a high basin of the Andes Mountains, and on the border between Peru and Bolivia, Titicaca has an average depth of between 107 m, and a maximum depth of 281 m. It contains the great early archaeological site of Tiahuanaco, actually in Bolivia.

According to Garcilaso de la Vega, in Inca mythology, Manco Capac and Mama 0cllo, children of the Sun, emerged from the depths of Lake Titicaca to found Cuzco and the Inca empire. Manco Capac was a culture hero rather than a conqueror, and he and Mama Ocllo taught the people industries and arts and gathered then to found Cuzco.

Manco Capac ruled the Inca empire, Cuzco for about forty years, established a code of laws, and is thought to have abolished human sacrifice. The code of laws forbade marrying one's sister, but these laws did not apply to Inca nobility so he married his sister, Mama Ocllo. With her, Manco had a son named Roca who became the next Sapa Inca. Manco Capac is thought to have reigned until about 1230, though some put his death in 1107. Manco ruled before the title of Sapa Inca was invented, so in fact his title is Capac, which roughly translates as warlord.

  

Home  Email

Last updated: November 16, 2007