Raqchi

Raqchi is an Inka site about halfway between Puno and Cusco. There was an important temple to the creator god Viracocha there, whose well preserved adobe and stone walls and partial columns can be seen here.


There are several buildings like this one next to the temple that are supposedly the remains of the acllawasi, where the "chosen" girls and women were brought to learn to weave fine cloth, make maize beer, and cook Inka food.

Here you can see a few of the more than 150 round storehouses at Raqchi. The climate here is more stable than in Puno or Cusco, so it would be a good place to store staple goods such as maize and potato, which is what has been recovered here in excavations.

The local community farms the large expanse of land between the temple/acllawasi/storehouses and another group of buildings that seem like houses and an administrative building.

There are a few still functioning baths and canals like this one.