Puno

Puno
"The folkloric Capital of Perú"
Location:
South Andean zone, plateau, 12,550 feet (3,825 m) above sea level.

Distances
817 miles (1315 km) from Lima
201.9 miles (325 km) from Arequipa241.7 miles (389 km) from Cusco
91,9 miles (148 km) from Desagüadero (frontier with Bolivia), and 69.6 miles (112 km) from Desagüadero to La Paz (Bolivia).

Population:
91,900 inhabitantsWeather:
Cold and dry, rainy season from November to February.

Puno is the capital of the department of Puno. It was founded with the name of "Villa Rica de San Carlos de Puno" in 1668, by the ViceroyCount of Lemos, to end with the problems of possession of the silver mines of Laicacota of the brothers Gaspar and José Salcedo.

Lake port beside the Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in theworld. It have landscapes of indescribable beauty, it has been the origin and cradle of big pre-Hispanic civilizations as Tiahuanaco, Collas and Aymaras, and of the mythical legend of Manco Cápac and MamaOcllo who emerged of its waters and went to Cusco to found the capital of the Inca empire.

The Uros, famous and ancestral town that live in floating artificial islands, or the indigenouscommunities of Taquile and Amantani that maintain their customs and rites without changes in the course of the time, amid unique landscapes.

Very near the city you will find interesting archaeologicalremains of
Pre-Hispanic cultures, as the chullpas of Sillustani inside the Ecological Reserve of Umayo, Pucará, or old cities of Spanish foundation as Chucuito, Juli and Pomata that harbor jewels of thearchitecture and colonial art, expressed in their temples and churches that flourished as product of the fortune of the silver mines of this region and the Spanish conquest of the Paraguay and of theMojos.

Puno has been denominated the "Capital folklórica del Perú" (folkloric capital of Peru) by the wealth of its artistic and cultural expressions. Especially through the dance; there are...