Tiwanaku: Spiritual and Political Centre of the Tiwanaku Culture

On the windswept altiplano near Lake Titicaca stand the monumental remains of Tiwanaku, capital of an empire that dominated the southern Andes and reached its height between 500 and 900 AD. Sunken courts, carved monoliths and the Gateway of the Sun display a mastery of stone unlike that of any other pre-Hispanic American civilisation, and the city's influence long outlived its fall. UNESCO inscribed Tiwanaku's spiritual and political centre in 2000.