Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca is located between Bolivia and Peru and, at an altitude of 3,800 metres (12,500 feet), it is the world's highest navigable lake. The tundra plain known as the altiplano stretches to the south and was the location of Tiwanaku, capital of one of the most important Andean cultures during the first millennium CE. The lake was also considered to be the centre of the cosmos and origin of the sun, moon, stars, and humankind and, consequently, was one of the most sacred sites for the Inca civilization.
In Mythology
Lake Titicaca was long considered the origin and centre of the cosmos by the local populace and then also the later Incas. In their creation myths, Viracocha or Wiraqocha Pachayachachic, the creator god, populated the world with a race of stone giants. These proved unruly and so Viracocha made humans instead but, unimpressed with their greed and hubris, the god sent a great flood upon the earth. All but three humans were destroyed but, from these survivors, the human race once again sprang forth. The world was still in darkness, though, so Viracocha made the sun, moon and stars from islands in the centre of Lake Titicaca. In an interesting aside, the sun became jealous of the brightness of the moon and threw ashes in her face so that now her light was dimmed.
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