Tiwanaku (Spanish: Tiahuanaco or Tiahuanacu) is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia, near Lake Titicaca, about 70 kilometers from La Paz, and it is one of the largest sites in South America. Surface remains currently cover around 4 square kilometers and include decorated ceramics, monumental structures, and megalithic blocks.
Tiwanaku (or Tiahuanaco) was the capital of the Tiwanaku empire between c. 200 - 1000 CE and is situated in the Titicaca basin. At an altitude of 3,850 metres (12,600 ft) it was the highest city in the ancient world and had a peak population of between 30,000 and 70,000 residents.
Tiwanaku, major pre-Columbian civilization known from ruins of the same name that are situated near the southern shore of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. The main Tiwanaku site was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2000.
For hundreds of years, the mysterious Tiwanaku civilization controlled an area that stretched across four countries. The ruins of their capital still mystify archaeologists today. The people of Tiwanaku built a grand city several hundred years before their more famous Inca successors.
Located near Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, the millennia-old city of Tiwanaku was built almost 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) above sea level, making it one of the highest urban centers ever constructed.
Tiwanaku, often called the “cradle of Andean civilization,” flourished centuries before the rise of the Inca Empire and left behind massive stone monuments, intricate carvings, and cultural mysteries that still baffle archaeologists today.
Tiwanaku: Spiritual and Political Centre of the Tiwanaku Culture was the capital of a powerful empire that lasted several centuries and it was characterized by the use of new technologies and materials for the architecture, pottery, textiles, metals, and basket-making.