The ruins of Tiahuanaco bear striking witness to the power of the empire that played a leading role in the development of the ancient Andean cultures.
The monumental remains, with its exceptional buildings, are examples of the ceremonial and public architecture and art, testifying the religious, cultural, and political significance of this civilization as one of the most important manifestations of the ancient Andean race.
The city of Tiahuanaco, capital of the powerful empire that dominated a large area of highlands of the Southern Andes and beyond, is located near the South shores of Lake Titicaca on the Andean High Plateau (Altiplano), at an altitude of 3,850 meters, in the today Province of Ingavi, Department of La Paz, Bolivia. Most of the ancient city, which was largely built from adobe, has been overlaid by the modern town. However, the monumental stone buildings of the ceremonial centre survive in the protected archaeological zones.
Tiahuanco Culture began as a small settlement which later flourished into a planned city. The maximum expression of the culture is shown in the massive architectural complex that reflects the strong and complex nature of its religious-political structure. The ceremonial-civic centre is spatially organized with the central point of it oriented toward the 4 cardinal points. It is constructed with impressive ashlars stones carved accurately and equipped with a very complex system of underground drainage controlling the flow of rain waters. The public-religious space of the city is shaped by a series of architectural structures that correspond to different periods of cultural accessions: Temple semi-underground, Kalasasaya's temple, Akapana's Pyramid, Pumapunku's Pyramid. In addition, the political-administrative area is represented by the palace of Putuni and Kantatallita.
The most imposing monument is the Pyramid of Akapana with 7 superimposed platforms with stone retaining walls rising to a height of over 18 meters. Only the lowest of these and part of one of the intermediate walls survive intact. It is surrounded by very well-preserved drainage canals. The walls of the small semi-subterranean temple are made up of 48 pillars in red sandstone. There are many carved stone heads set into the walls, symbolizing the power of the defeated enemies with which the wall was formed in the supernatural world.
To the North of the Akapana is Kelasasaya, a large rectangular open temple, used as an observatory or as a mean of communication with the other unseen dimensions. It is entered by a flight of 7 steps in the centre of the Eastern Wall. The interior contains 2 carved monoliths and the monumental Gate of the Sun, one of the most important religious expressions of the Tiahuanaco culture. It was made from a single slab of andesite, cut to form a large doorway with niches (Hornacinas) on either side. Above the doorway is an elaborate bas-relief frieze depicting a central deity, standing on a stepped platform, wearing an elaborated headdress, and holding a staff in each hand. The deity is flanked by rows of anthropomorphic birds and along the bottom of the panel there is a series of human faces. The ensemble has been interpreted as a cosmological calendar related to agricultural seasons in the unseen world to match the correct seasonal time in the physical world if the harmony between them prevailed.
The settlers of the city perfected the technology for carving and polishing different stone materials for the construction, which together with the architectural technology, enriched the monumental spaces.
The economic base of the culture is evidence through almost 50,000 agricultural fields, known locally as Sucacollos, characterized by their irrigation technology which allowed the different cultures to adapt to the climate conditions.
The Tiahuanaco culture was also characterized by the use of new technologies and materials for the architecture, pottery, textiles, metals, and basket-making. This innovations were subsequently taken up by succeeding civilizations and were extended as far as Cuzco.
Tiahuanco was the epicenter of knowledge due to the fact that it expanded its sphere of influence to the inter Andean Valleys and the Coast.
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