Copacabana, Bolivia

Panoramic view of Copacabana, Bolivia
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Copacabana_Bolivia.jpg
Author: Bjork


Copacabana is a town on the shore of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. It is located at a height of 3,841 m (12,602 ft) above sea level. The town covers 346.5 sq km (133.8 sq mi) and has a population of around 6,000 people (2012 estimate).

The name Copacabana is popularly believed to derive from "kota kahuana" which means "view of the lake" in the Aymara language. Historian Mario Montaño Aragón however believe it comes from "kotakawana", the name of the Andean god of fertility. This is the original Copacabana name that was later adopted by Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Copacabana dates back to the Inca period. There was an Inca shrine here, probably for the worship of Kotakawana. During that time, Copacabana was an island on Lake Titicaca. It had a main shrine as well as numerous smaller shrines in which the Incas performed ceremonies and rituals.

The Spaniards arrived on the Island of Titicaca in 1534. They forced the conversion of the local population from their indigenous believes to embrace the Roman Catholic faith, and Dominican missionaries set up a mission here.

Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana, Copacabana, Bolivia
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Church_of_copacabana.jpg
Author: Anakin


Street in Copacabana
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colorful_street_in_Copacabana_October2007.jpg
Author: Ville Miettinen


The most important site at Copacabana is the Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana. It sits on a sacred knoll that was known as the Inca Temple of the Sun. The site was sacred even during pre-hispanic times and became a sacred Catholic site upon the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century. It is one of the two main sacred Catholic pilgrimage sites in Bolivia, the other being the Virgin of Urkupiña near Cochabamba.

The image of Our Lady of Copacabana is said to have been created by the grandson of the Inca ruler Manco Kapac in 1582. He had it placed in Copacabana as the tutelar protectress of the community. Today the Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana is the site of an annual indigenous feast days held on 2 February and 6 August.

Shrines on a hill overlooking Lake Titicaca in Copacabana, Bolivia
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Copacabana_Lake_Titicaca_October2007.jpg
Author: Ville Miettinen

Visiting Copacabana

There are buses from La Paz to Copacabana for Bs.16. The journey takes about four hours. The bus takes you to Tiquina Strait, where you get down from the bus, board a ferry (fare Bs.1.50), then return to your bus which is ferried across by barge. There are also buses from Puno in Peru, also taking about four hours.

Places of Interest in Copacabana

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