Closeup of carved stone tenon-head embedded in wall of Tiwanaku's Semi-subterranean Temple, Bolivia. UNESCO World Heritage Site
The city of Tiwanaku, capital of a powerful pre-Hispanic empire that dominated a large area of the southern Andes and beyond, reached its apogee between 500 and 900 AD. Its monumental remains testify to the cultural and political significance of this civilisation, which is distinct from any of the other pre-Hispanic empires of the Americas. The Kalasasaya is a large courtyard over three hundred feet long, outlined by a high gateway. It is located to the north of the Akapana and west of the Semi-Subterranean Temple. Within the courtyard is where explorers found the Gateway of the Sun, but it is contested today that this was not its original location. Near the courtyard is the Semi-Subterranean Temple; a square sunken courtyard that’s unique for its north-south rather than east-west axis. The walls are covered with tenon heads of many different styles postulating that it was probably reused for different purposes over time. It was built with walls of sandstone pillars and smaller blocks of Ashlar masonary. There are many more colossal stone statues, gateways and blocks including one that is meters tall weighing well over 10 tons. Today Tiwanaku is a UNESCO world heritage site, and is administered by the Bolivian government.
Size: 3426px × 5120px
Location: Tiwanaku, La Paz, Bolivia
Photo credit: © buteo / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: altiplano, america, archaeology, architectural, art, bolivia, close-, daytime, desert, detail, exterior, head, heritage, historic, historical, history, latin, locations, outdoor, pre-, relief, reliefs, ruins, sculpture, sculptures, semi-subterranean, south, stone, temple, tiahuanaco, tiawanaco, tiawanaku, tiwanaku, travel, unesco, world
