Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [153]
Sights & Activities
On the western flank of the Plaza de Armas is Puno’s baroque cathedral (admission free; 10-11am & 3:30-6pm), which was completed in 1757. The interior is more Spartan than you’d expect from the well-sculpted facade, except for the silver-plated altar, which, following a 1964 visit by Pope Paul VI, has a Vatican flag to its right.
The 17th-century Casa del Corregidor (35-1921; www.casadelcorregidor.pe; Deustua 576; admission free; 10am-8pm), one of Puno’s oldest residences, houses a cultural center where exhibitions, workshops and concerts take place. There’s also an art gallery and a bookshop. Its cafe-bar is a great place to hobnob with local expats and artists over a cappuccino and a pastry.
Around the corner, Museo Carlos Dreyer (Conde de Lemos 289; admission with English-speaking guide S15; 9:30am-7pm Mon-Sat) houses a fascinating collection of Puno-related archaeological artifacts and art. Upstairs there are three mummies and a full-scale fiberglass chullpa.
Puno’s tiny, quirky Coca Museum (36-5087; Deza 301; admission S5; 9am-1pm & 3-8pm) offers lots of interesting information – historical, medicinal, cultural – about the coca plant and its many uses. Presentation isn’t that interesting, though: reams of text (in English only) stuck to the wall interspersed with photographs and old Coca-Cola advertisements. The display of traditional costumes is what makes a visit to this museum worthwhile. Though its relation to coca is unfathomable, it’s a boon for making sense of the costumes worn in street parades.
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FIESTAS & FOLKLORE AROUND LAKE TITICACA
Puno is often said to be the folkloric capital of Peru, boasting as many as 300 traditional dances and celebrating numerous fiestas throughout the year. Although dances often occur during celebrations of Catholic feast days, many have their roots in precolonial celebrations (usually tied in with the agricultural calendar). The dazzlingly ornate and imaginative costumes worn on these occasions are often worth more than an entire household’s everyday clothes, and range from strikingly grotesque masks and animal costumes to glittering sequined uniforms.
Accompanying music uses a host of traditional instruments, from Spanish-influenced brass and string instruments to percussion and wind instruments that have changed little since Inca times. These traditional instruments include tinyas (wooden hand drums) and wankaras (larger drums formerly used in battle), plus a chorus of zampoñas (panpipes), which range from tiny, high-pitched instruments to huge bass panpipes almost as tall as the musician. Keep an eye out for flautas (flutes): from simple bamboo pennywhistles called quenas to large blocks that look as though they’ve been hollowed out of a tree trunk. The most esoteric is the piruru, which is traditionally carved from the wing bone of an Andean condor.
Seeing street fiestas can be planned, or can simply be a matter of luck. Some celebrations are held in one town and not in another; for others, the whole region lets loose. Ask at the tourist office in Puno about any fiestas in the surrounding area while you’re in town. The following festivals are particularly important in the Lake Titicaca region, but many countrywide fiestas are celebrated here, too.
La Virgen de la Candelaria is the most spectacular festival. It spreads out for several days around the actual date (February 2), depending upon which day of the week Candlemas falls. If it falls between Sunday and Tuesday, things get under way the previous Saturday; if Candlemas occurs between Wednesday and Friday, celebrations get going the following Saturday. Puno Week (the first week of November), centered on Puno Day (November 5), is also celebrated in style. It marks the legendary birth of Manco Cápac, the first Inca.
No list of regional holidays and fiestas could ever be exhaustive. Most are celebrated for several days before and after the actual day, including Epiphany (January