Wikimedia CommonsSouth AmericaLiving culture
Andean / Inca
The mythology of the Inca Empire and the broader Andean civilizations — Inti the sun god, Pachamama, and the sacred peaks of the Andes.
Andean mythology encompasses thousands of years of civilization in the Andes mountains, culminating in the Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu), the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The Inca worshipped Inti (the sun), Mama Killa (the moon), Pachamama (Earth Mother), and Viracocha (the creator). Their sacred geography centered on huacas — sacred places imbued with spiritual power — organized along ceque lines radiating from the Qoricancha temple in Cusco. The Andes themselves were considered living beings (Apus), and the highest peaks received human sacrifices (capacocha) to ensure cosmic balance. Despite the devastating Spanish conquest beginning in 1532, Andean spiritual practices persist in syncretic form across Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, where offerings to Pachamama and the Apus remain part of daily life.
5 entries mapped
Wikimedia CommonsAndean / IncaMythTemple / Ruins
Machu Picchu — City in the Clouds
The Inca citadel set on a mountain saddle above the Urubamba River — a sacred landscape of temples, terraces, and astronomical alignments hidden from the Spanish for 400 years
Aguas Calientes (at base); Cusco (50 mi by rail), PeruRead more
Wikimedia CommonsAndean / IncaMythSacred Water
Lake Titicaca — Birthplace of the Sun
The highest navigable lake in the world — where the Inca believed the sun god Inti and the first Inca emerged from the sacred waters at the Island of the Sun
Puno, Peru; Copacabana, Bolivia, Peru / BoliviaRead more
Wikimedia CommonsAndean / IncaMythRoyal Palace / Fortress
Sacsayhuamán — Fortress of the Thunder God
The colossal stone fortress above Cusco whose zigzag walls of boulders weighing up to 200 tons fit together without mortar — attributed by the Inca to divine or giant builders
Cusco, Peru (1 mi), PeruRead more
Wikimedia CommonsAndean / IncaMythTemple / Ruins
Ollantaytambo
Living Inca city in the Sacred Valley — people still inhabit structures built on original Inca foundations, with massive stone terraces and a history of resistance to Spanish conquest
Cusco, Cusco Region, Peru (90 km south), PeruRead more
Wikimedia CommonsAndean / IncaMythTemple / Ruins
Coricancha — Temple of the Sun
Holiest Inca temple with walls literally covered in sheets of gold — dedicated to Inti, the Sun God, with Spanish church built directly on Inca foundations
Cusco, Cusco Region, Peru, PeruRead more