"Ninety-one funerary towers on a windswept hilltop above a sacred lake, where two cultures housed their dead between earth and sky"
Chullpas Sillustani
Sillustani, Puno, Peru
On a peninsula jutting into Lake Umayo near Puno, ninety-one stone towers stand in various states of preservation — from intact cylinders to tumbled foundations. These are chullpas, the funerary towers of the Colla people and their Inca successors, built above ground to house the dead in a posture of continued presence. Each tower faces east, greeting the sunrise through a small sealed doorway. The dead were not hidden here. They were elevated.
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Quick Facts
Location
Sillustani, Puno, Peru
Tradition
Site Type
Coordinates
-15.7167, -70.1508
Last Updated
Mar 9, 2026
The Colla began building funerary towers here in the 13th century. The Inca added their own after conquering the Colla in the 15th century. The complex comprises 91 towers of varying style and preservation.
Origin Story
The Colla people chose this hilltop above Lake Umayo as their most sacred burial ground. The peninsula's position — surrounded on three sides by water, open to the sky — created a geography appropriate for those who had passed between states of being. The Inca, after conquering the Colla, recognised the site's significance and added towers of their own rather than destroying what they found.
Spiritual Lineage
Colla funerary construction (13th century), Inca additions and refinement (15th century), colonial-era looting, present-day archaeological monument. The site represents one of the few places where Colla and Inca cultural expressions coexist without one having erased the other.
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