Gate of the Sun

For the Inca trail related to Machu Picchu, see Intipuncu

The Gate of the Sun is a stone gateway constructed by the Tiwanaku culture.It is located near Lake Titicaca at about 3,825 m above sea level in La paz, Bolivia. The gate is approximately convert|9.8|ft|m|abbr=on tall and convert|13|ft|m|abbr=on wide. It was originally constructed by a single piece of stone. The weight is estimated to be 10 tons. When the gate was originally found, it was lying face down and had a large crack. It stands in the place where it was found, although it is believed that this was not its original location. Gate of the Sun is a valuable monument to the history of art. Some elements of their iconography spread throughout Peru and parts of Bolivia; the engravings that decorate the gate has some astronomic connotations. There have been innumerable interpretations of the inscriptions on Gate of the Sun; many of them believe that it was used as a calendar.

Figures on Gate of the Sun

The lintel is carved with 48 squares surrounding a central figure. Each square represents a character in the form of winged effigy. There are 32 effigies with human faces and 16 with condor's heads. All looked to the central figure, whose identity is still an enigma. It is a figure of a man with the head surrounded by 24 stripes that represent rays shooting from his face. The styled staffs held by the figure symbolize thunder and lightning. Some historians believe that the central figure represents the “Sun God” by the rays of his head, while others identified it with the Inca god Viracocha.