- Location: the shore of Lake Umayo, Puno, Peru
- Working hours: 8.00 - 17.00
- Visit fee: 10 new salts
Not far from the Peruvian city of Puno (34 km) there is an unusual place - a cemetery of the Aymara Silyustani Indians. The uniqueness of this place lies in the way of burial: the graves are cylindrical towers ("chulpas"), built of processed stones of regular rectangular shape. The burials date back to the era of the Kola kingdom that originated before the Inca Empire and although the tomb tower (the "chulpa") is not a unique creation of this place, it is found in other parts of Peru , but it was here, in Puno, that they survived to our days in the best possible way.
Symbols and legends of the cemetery
Towers-graves in the cemetery of the Aymara Siljstani Indians were meant for the nobility, often with the deceased in the chulpa left objects of everyday life, jewelry, clothing, which is why the cemetery repeatedly suffered from vandals who, in search of riches, used any available means, including dynamite. The very form of the grave is a symbol of the connection between the living and the dead worlds. Inside, the tower had the shape of a female womb, and the mummified body was laid in the shape of an embryo, which meant that a person was reborn in the afterlife.
On some graves of the Siljstāni cemetery in Peru, you can see the image of a lizard, which at that time was considered a symbol of life, because her tail is always damaged when damaged. By the way, the entrances to the tower are directed to the east, which is also very symbolic, because it is in the east every day the sun rises, and, therefore, a new day begins (born).
How to get there and when to visit?
You can reach the cemetery of the Aymara Siljustani Indians in Peru by public transport - by bus, following the Puno-Sillustani route, or by taxi. Tourists can visit the cemetery daily from 8.00 to 17.00 hours, the cost of visiting will be 10 salts.
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