PUNO AND LAKE TITICACA

Puno was founded in 1668 as Villa Rica de San Carlos de Puno by the viceroy the Count of Lemos. Today the city is known as the Folkloric Capital of Peru because of the wealth of its cultural and artistic expressions, particularly the tradition dances which are the highpoint of the celebrations held each year in February during the Fiesta of the Virgin of Candelaria, which is the biggest celebration of its kind in southern Peru.

The city of Puno is the highest city in southern Peru, at 12,629 feet (3,827 metres), and it is located in a bay on the shores of Lake Titicaca. The lake has been the focal point of many of the greatest pre-Hispanic civilizations, and many archaeological sites can be visited today.

At an altitude of 12,573 feet (8,810 metres), Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world and the one of the largest lakes in South America. It is located on the high Andean plateau between Peru and Bolivia. The Titicaca National Reserve was established in 1978 in order to protect the flora, fauna and scenic beauty of the area, as well as to maintain the cultural traditions of the people who live around the lakeshore and on the many islands on the Peruvian side of the lake.