Paititi is a legendary Inca lost city or utopian rich land. It allegedly lies east of the Andes, hidden somewhere within the remote rainforests of southeast Peru, northern Bolivia or northwest Brazil. The Paititi legend in Peru revolves around the story of the culture-hero Inkarri, who, after he had founded Q'ero and Cusco, retreated toward the jungles of Pantiacolla to live out the rest of his days in his refuge city of Paititi. Other versions of the legend see Paititi as an Inca refuge in the border area between Bolivia and Brazil.
In 2001, the Italian archaeologist Mario Polia discovered the report of the missionary Andres Lopez in the archives of the Jesuits in Rome. [1] In the document, which dates from about 1600, Lopez describes a large city rich in gold, silver, and jewels, located in the middle of the tropical jungle called Paititi by the natives. Lopez informed the Pope about his discovery. [2] Lopez's report and its discovery were widely publicized, though its content is third-hand and far from reliable, Lopez himself having never reached Paititi but only having heard about it from the natives. It focuses on the story of a miracle performed at the court of the king of Paititi by a crucifix taken there by a group of baptized Indians. Many other historical sources of the Colonial period (16th to 18th centuries) refer to Paititi, to its possible locations and to expeditions searching for it. Some of the most informative of these documents include those of Juan Álvarez Maldonado (1570), Gregorio Bolívar (1621), Juan Recio de León (1623–27), Juan de Ojeda (1676), Diego de Eguiluz (1696).
In 2001, two researchers from the University of Helsinki, Dr. Ari Siiriäinen (archaeologist) and Dr. Martti Pärssinen (historian), put forward a hypothesis relating the Paititi legend to the Inca expeditions into the Amazonian jungle and to the possible Inca military presence in the region of the Beni and the Madre de Dios rivers. [3] In order to test this hypothesis, a joint Finnish-Bolivian archaeological expedition in 2001–2003 investigated the fortified site Las Piedras near the town of Riberalta in Eastern Bolivia. Some fragments of imperial Inca ceramics were found during the excavations, but the presumed Inca origin of the site remains questionable. [4]
Historian and anthropologist Vera Tyuleneva has contributed to the idea of the non-Peruvian origin of the name "Paititi" and its original locale; she has made expeditions to northern Bolivia and provided extensive and detailed written reports on her findings. [5] [6] [7]
On 29 December 2007, members of a local community near Kimbiri, Peru, found large stone structures resembling high walls, covering an area of 40,000 square meters; they named it the Manco Pata fortress. [8] [9] Researchers from the Peruvian government's Cusco-based National Institute of Culture (INC), however, disputed suggestions by the local mayor that it could be part of the lost city of Paititi. [10] Their report identified the stone structures as naturally formed sandstone. In 2008, the municipality of Kimbiri decided to promote it as a tourist destination. [11]
Recent historical work by the explorer Andrew Nicol examined primary historical texts and concluded that a jungle city or remote Inca outpost, such as the city described by the Paititi legend, could theoretically exist within the Peruvian Amazon Basin. Nicol references the existence of the sites of Vilcabamba, Peru and Mameria as the chief sources of evidence supporting this theory. [12] Parts of this region discussed in Nicols' research are referred to as Antisuyu, one of the four regions into which the Inca empire was divided.
In 2016, French researcher Vincent Pélissier published an online article and subsequent video on YouTube claiming to have found the lost city of Paititi. Pélissier claims to have made the discovery in July 2015. The article presents a first-hand account of Pélissier's research and details the evidence that he uses to make his case. His article expounds upon prior research, including that of Thierry Jamin. One of Pélissier's significant pieces of evidence is an interpretation of petroglyphs at Pusharo as a map to Paititi. These petroglyphs are located on the south shore of the Palatoa River. However, the petroglyphs have not been confirmed to be of Inca origin. In his article, Pélissier makes extensive use of Google Earth screenshots that include coordinates and a hand-created overlay that highlights rivers, mountain ranges, and supposed Inca roads. Pélissier asserts throughout the article that he believes he has found the lost city of Paititi. He also includes details of experiences that he claims to have had (i.e. being hacked, burgled, etc.) as a result of his research. [13]
Cusco or Cuzco, is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru; in 2017, it had a population of 428,450. Its elevation is around 3,400 m (11,200 ft).
Manco Cápac, also known as Manco Inca and Ayar Manco, was, according to some historians, the first governor and founder of the Inca civilization in Cusco, possibly in the early 13th century. He is also a main figure of Inca mythology, being the protagonist of the two best known legends about the origin of the Inca, both of them connecting him to the foundation of Cusco. His main wife was his older sister, Mama Uqllu, also the mother of his son and successor Sinchi Ruq'a. Even though his figure is mentioned in several chronicles, his actual existence remains uncertain.
Madre de Dios is a department and region in southeastern Peru, bordering Brazil, Bolivia and the Peruvian departments of Puno, Cusco and Ucayali, in the Amazon Basin. Its capital is the city of Puerto Maldonado. It is also the third largest department in Peru, after Ucayali and Loreto. However, it is also the least densely populated department in Peru, as well as its least populous department. It has one of the lowest poverty rates in Peru.
Percy Harrison Fawcett was a British geographer, artillery officer, cartographer, archaeologist, and explorer of South America. Fawcett disappeared in 1925 during an expedition to find an ancient lost city which he and others believed existed in the Amazon rainforest.
Vilcabamba or Willkapampa is often called the Lost City of the Incas. Vilcabamba means "sacred plain" in Quechua. The modern name for the Inca ruins of Vilcabamba is Espiritu Pampa. Vilcabamba is located in Echarate District of La Convención Province in the Cuzco Region of Peru.
Manco Inca Yupanqui was the founder and monarch of the independent Neo-Inca State in Vilcabamba, although he was originally a puppet Inca Emperor installed by the Spaniards. He was also known as "Manco II" and "Manco Cápac II". He was one of the sons of Huayna Capac and a younger brother of Huascar.
The Inkarri myth is one of the most famous legends of the Inca. When the Spanish conquistadores executed the last ruler of the Inca people, Atahualpa, he vowed that he would come back one day to avenge his death. According to the legend, the Spaniards buried his body parts in several places around the kingdom: His head is said to rest under the Presidential Palace in Lima, while his arms are said to be under the Waqaypata in Cuzco and his legs in Ayacucho. Buried under the earth he will grow until the day that he will rise, take back his kingdom and restore harmony in the relationship between Pachamama and her children.
The Urubamba River or Vilcamayo River is a river in Peru. Upstream it is called Vilcanota River. Within the La Convención Province the naming changes to Urubamba. A partially navigable headwater of the Amazon River, it rises in the Andes to the southeast of Cuzco. It originates on the slopes of Khunurana in the Puno Region, Melgar Province, near the La Raya pass. It flows north-north-west for 724 kilometers before coalescing with the Tambo River to form the Ucayali River.
Artisuyu was the eastern part of the Inca Empire which bordered on the modern-day Upper Amazon region which the Anti inhabited. Along with Chinchaysuyu, it was part of the Hanan Suyukuna or "upper quarters" of the empire, constituting half of the Tahuantinsuyu, the "four parts bound together" that comprised the empire.
Mameria is an area of high-elevation jungle to the northeast of the Paucartambo range in southeast Peru, drained by the Mameria river, an affluent of the Nistrón river. Until the 1960s this remote and sparsely populated area would have been considered a part of the Callanga jungle area. Machiguenga peoples, fleeing the slavery that they were subject to along the Yavero river, fled to this area which acquired its current name from the Machiguenga observing that "mameri," which means "there are none," regarding the lack of fish in the river.
Llaqtapata (Quechua) llaqta place, pata elevated place / above, at the top / edge, bank, shore, pronounced 'yakta-pahta', Hispanicized Llactapata) is an archaeological site about 5 km (3.1 mi) east of Machu Picchu. The complex is located in the Cusco Region, La Convención Province, Santa Teresa District, high on a ridge between the Ahobamba and Santa Teresa drainages.
PeruRail is a railway operator providing tourist, freight, and charter services in southern Peru. It was founded in 1999 by two Peruvian entrepreneurs and the British company Sea Containers.
Choquequirao is an Incan site in southern Peru, similar in structure and architecture to Machu Picchu. The ruins are buildings and terraces at levels above and below Sunch'u Pata, the truncated hill top. The hilltop was anciently leveled and ringed with stones to create a 30 by 50 m platform.
Paratoari is a site composed of pyramid-shaped natural formations in the Manu area of dense tropical rainforest in southeast Peru. It was first identified via NASA satellite photograph number C-S11-32W071-03, released in 1976. They subsequently garnered greater attention among South America aficionados through a series of three articles which questioned from afar what "The Dots" might truly represent in 1977 - 1979 issues of the "South American Explorer" journal, written under the name of "Ursula Thiermann" by Don Montague, president of the South American Explorers Club.
The official flag of Cusco has seven horizontal stripes of color: red, orange, yellow, green, sky blue, blue, and violet. This rainbow flag was introduced to Peru in 1973 by Raúl Montesinos Espejo, in recognition of the 25th anniversary of his Tawantinsuyo Radio station. As the flag's popularity grew, Cusco mayor Gilberto Muñiz Caparó declared it an official emblem in 1978. Since 2021, the official flag has also featured the golden Echenique's sun.
Gregory Deyermenjian is a psychologist and explorer. In 1981 he visited the ruins of Vilcabamba la Vieja at Espíritu Pampa, and then turned his attention to the northeast and north of Cusco, Peru. Since the mid-1980s he has made numerous expeditions to Peru investigating Paititi, a legendary lost city that is part of the history and legend of the western Amazon basin. He is a long-term Fellow of The Explorers Club.
The Petroglyphs of Pusharo constitute a unique and extensive ancient rock art archaeological site in southeastern Peru's Manú National Park, an expanse of rain forest that still contains unexplored and little known areas, and for which an official government permit is required for entry.
Jacek Pałkiewicz is a Polish journalist, traveler and explorer. Fellow of the prestigious London-based Royal Geographical Society and numerous other such societies, he is best known for his discovery of the sources of the Amazon River.
Search For the Lost City of Gold is a 2003 documentary commissioned by The History Channel and Five (UK). It traces Tahir Shah's epic quest for the lost city of Paititi in the Madre de Dios jungle of Peru, to which the Incas fled from the Spanish in 1532. This journey and his TV-hour film also formed the basis for the book House of the Tiger King, as well as the cinematic feature film with the same name. The film was produced by Caravan Film and was directed by Swedish film director David Flamholc.
Thierry Jamin is a French explorer and pseudohistorian known for his research about Paititi and the presence of the Incas and pre-Inca civilization in the Amazonian rainforest.