Puno History

The region, like much of the Andean highlands, has undergone significant cultural changes throughout the centuries. Pre-Incan civilizations, including the Pukará and Tiahuanaco, were characterized by their skillfulness in pyramid construction, stonework, pottery, and textiles. By the 15th century, the Incas had arrived to the region and had violently conquered the Collao and Aymara cultures that currently inhabit the area. However, the aptly named lupazas, or children of the sun, never fully surrendered and to this day remain an important ethnic group in both the Peruvian and Bolivian Altiplano regions.

During colonial times, the Spaniards established themselves in Puno, attracted by its mineral richness, and brought new cultural, social and economic habits along with them. The city of San Carlos de Puno was founded in 1668 by the Viceroy Pedro Antonio Fernández de Castro (X Count of Lemos). Catholic priests, eager to convert the natives, encouraged them to build beautiful churches, some of which still stand today.

Although today Puno is unquestionably underprivileged and somewhat unattractive, during the Spanish period it was one of the continent's richest cities because of its proximity to the Laykakota silver mines, discovered by brothers Gaspar and Jose Salcedo in 1657. The subsequent mining boom drew thousands of people to an area not far from what is now the city of Puno. Not surprisingly, it also brought a bloody rivalry between the brothers and the viceroyal government that ended only when the ironhanded Count Lemos – Viceroy of Peru – traveled to Puno, ordered Jose Salcedo executed, and transferred Laykakota's residents to Puno.

As a testament to the quietly rebellious nature of the more faithful natives, Lake Titicaca allegedly became a secret depository for the Incan empire's gold during the Spanish Conquest. Among the items supposedly buried at the lake's bottom is Inca Huascar's gold chain, weighing 4,400 lbs /2,000 kg and previously stored in the Koricancha – the Temple of the Sun in Cusco – until loyal Indians threw it into the lake to prevent it from falling into Spanish hands. Oceanographer Jacques Yves Cousteau spent eight weeks using mini submarines to explore the depths of the lake but instead of gold found a treasure of a different sort: a previously unknown, enormous, multicolored frog.

Today, Puno is the first major commercial hub in the constant migration of indigenous peoples of the Andes to the larger cities of Peru. It is the main city in the Southern Altiplano – second to Juliaca – and annually receives new residents from surrounding smaller agricultural communities, who arrive seeking improved opportunities for education and employment. It is also the regional center for mass cultural expressions, most notably the celebrations of the Festival of the “Virgen de la Candelaria” and the Regional Competition of Autochthonous Dances, which famously attract multitudes of townsfolk from surrounding villages year after year. In fact, in terms of numbers and regional significance, the “Virgen de la Candelaria” Festival is reputedly one of the three largest cultural manifestations in South America, together with the famed Carnaval Festival in Río de Janeiro, Brasil, and the Carnaval in Oruro, Bolivia.