Raqchi

71°22'12"W
14°10'25"S
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Our second stop on the way to Puno was the Inca city Raqchi. The name of the city means "ceramics", but the most striking feature is the ruins of an Inca temple dedicated to Wiracocha, the Inca god of creation, and the ruins of the surrounding town.

The town was quite important, as it was built right between two regions, the dry altiplano (high plain) and the lower region surrounding Cusco, occupied by the Aymara and Quechua people, respectively. As a result, the town was a major trading post, swapping animal products from the South for produce and grain from the North.

So in addition to the temple, an artificial lake, a massive city wall and many houses, a major feature of the site is the ruins over 100 circular warehouses or silos. We posed for pictures inside some that had been restored.