Explore Lago Titicaca, the cordilleras and the Yungas
The pleasant little town of COPACABANA overlooks the deep blue waters of Lago Titicaca just a few kilometres from the Peruvian border. The town is an untidy collection of red-tiled houses and modern concrete buildings nestled between two steep hills. As well as being a good base from which to explore the Bolivian side of the lake, the town is the most important Catholic pilgrimage site in the country, being home to Bolivia’s most revered image, the Virgen de Copacabana. Several times annually the town is overwhelmed by religious devotees who come to pay homage to the Virgin in colourful religious fiestas, while the rest of the year sees a steady stream of pilgrims seeking the Virgin’s blessing. Copacabana is also the base for visits to Isla del Sol and Isla de la Luna, Titicaca’s two sacred islands, while a series of mysterious Inca ruins lie within easy walking distance.
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The Lady of the Lake
The Lady of the Lake
The speed with which the Virgen de Copacabana emerged as the most revered religious image in the Altiplano after the Spanish conquest suggests that her cult was simply a continuation of previous, pre-Christian religious traditions associated with Lago Titicaca. Immediately after the conquest the Inca temples around the lake were looted by Spanish treasure-seekers, and their shrines and idols destroyed. These included, at Copacabana, a large female idol with a fish’s tail – probably a representation of the lake as a goddess. The town was refounded in 1573 as the parish of Santa Ana de Copacabana, but a series of devastating early frosts swiftly ensued, convincing locals of the need for a new supernatural protector. Santa Ana was abandoned and the town rededicated in honour of the Virgen de la Candelaria, one of the most popular representations of the Virgin Mary during the Spanish conquest of the Americas.
A locally born man, Francisco Inca Yupanqui, grandson of the Inca Huayna Capac (himself the father of Atahualpa, whose capture by the Spanish led to the fall of the Inca empire), began fashioning an image of the Virgin. After his first crude efforts were rejected by the Spanish priests he went to Potosí to study sculpture, eventually returning with the figure that graces the church today, the Virgen de Copacabana, who was immediately credited with a series of miracles. The town quickly became the most important Catholic pilgrimage destination in the southern Andes, and after independence, the Virgin was also proclaimed the religious patron of Bolivia.
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Fiestas in Copacabana
Fiestas in Copacabana
Copacabana’s main religious fiestas are the Fiesta de la Virgen de la Candelaria (Feb 2) and the Coronación de la Virgen de Copacabana (Aug 5), which attract thousands of pilgrims from across Bolivia and southern Peru. The Virgin’s statue is paraded around town accompanied by brass bands and dance troupes and several days of festivities culminate in bullfights in the ring on the town’s northern outskirts. Semana Santa (Easter) is more solemn. Many pilgrims walk to Copacabana from as far away as La Paz in penance, and thousands more take part in a candlelit nocturnal procession up Cerro Calvario, where they pray for the forgiveness of their sins and success in the coming years. Far more mysterious, distinctly non-Christian ceremonies are staged on the night of June 21 to celebrate the winter solstice and Aymara New Year, when small crowds led by traditional Aymara religious leaders gather to perform ceremonies at the Horca del Inca and Intinkala, two ancient shrines on the outskirts of town.
