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Roots Earth in Puno: audio stories about 40 places

Roots Earth has audio stories about 40 places in Puno, Peru, in Latin America. The Puno stories are in all seven Roots Earth languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The app needs no account: open Puno, pick a place on the city's map of places and play. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection. The stories are written by local people.

The 40 places are listed below in the order the app shows them, and again further down with their coordinates. The lists were taken from the Roots Earth catalogue on 15 September 2026.

Published 16 September 2026. Markdown: puno.md

The 40 places in Puno with audio stories

In the order the app shows them.

  1. Cathedral Basilica of St. Charles Borromeo
  2. Lake Titicaca
  3. Uros Floating Islands
  4. Taquile Island
  5. Amantaní Island
  6. Sillustani
  7. Yavarí Steamship
  8. Cutimbo
  9. Chucuito
  10. Inca Uyo Temple
  11. Aramu Muru
  12. Juli
  13. Pomata
  14. Lampa
  15. Acora
  16. Puno Province
  17. Department of Puno
  18. Atuncolla
  19. Paucarcolla
  20. Platería
  21. Capachica
  22. Coata
  23. Huata
  24. Tiquillaca
  25. Vilque
  26. Lampa Province
  27. Coricancha (Qorikancha reference)
  28. Uru People Community
  29. Ichu Village
  30. Ácora Town & Market
  31. Juli Old Town
  32. Pomata Lakeside Neighbourhood
  33. Platería Lakeshore
  34. Capachica Peninsula Hamlets
  35. Coata Fishing Village
  36. Paucarcolla Old Village
  37. Tiquillaca Highlands
  38. Vilque Fair Town
  39. Huata Lakeside Community
  40. Atuncolla Village

Is there an audio guide for Cathedral Basilica of St. Charles Borromeo?

Yes. Cathedral Basilica of St. Charles Borromeo has its audio stories in the Roots Earth app: a short introduction and a deeper story, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian.

It is place 1 of the 40 Puno places in the app, at -15.84111, -70.02917. Every one of the other 39 places in the list above has the same two stories.

Roots Earth is not a guided tour: you choose the place on the city's map of places and play its story yourself.

How to use Roots Earth in Puno

Open Roots Earth and choose Puno. The city has its own map of places with all 40 of them on it. Tap the place you are standing in front of, or any other, and play its short introduction or its deeper story. You decide what to listen to and in which order.

You can listen in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian, and there is no account. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection.

In full

All 40 places in Puno, in the app's order, with their coordinates.

All 40 places in Puno, with coordinates

Every place below has a short introduction and a deeper story in the Roots Earth app, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The names, the coordinates (latitude, longitude) and the one line descriptions are the app's own catalogue values of 15 September 2026; a place without a line here has none that this page can print.

1. Cathedral Basilica of St. Charles Borromeo

Coordinates
-15.84111, -70.02917
In one line
Completed in 1757 on Puno's main square, this cathedral basilica showcases mestizo Andean Baroque carving. Dedicated to Saint Charles Borromeo, its deeply worked stone facade blends Christian and Andean motifs into one of the altiplano's finest churches.

2. Lake Titicaca

Coordinates
-15.825, -69.325
In one line
Straddling Peru and Bolivia at 3,812 meters, Lake Titicaca is the highest large navigable lake on Earth. Sacred to the Inca as the birthplace of the sun, its deep blue waters, reed beds, and island communities span more than 8,000 square kilometers.

3. Uros Floating Islands

Coordinates
-15.72712, -70.02973
In one line
On Lake Titicaca near Puno, the Uru people live atop roughly 120 floating islands built entirely from totora reeds. Layered and anchored over the water, the islands carry reed houses and reed boats, sustaining a way of life rooted on the lake itself.

4. Taquile Island

Coordinates
-15.77722, -69.68417
In one line
A Quechua island 45 kilometers from Puno, Taquile is famed for its textile art, honored by UNESCO in 2005. Here men knit and women weave, and woven caps and belts signal age and marital status across terraced slopes rising above Lake Titicaca.

5. Amantaní Island

Coordinates
-15.65, -69.71667
In one line
A Quechua farming island on Lake Titicaca, Amantaní is crowned by two sacred peaks, Pachatata and Pachamama, each holding ancient temple ruins. Known for community homestays and terraced fields, it is home to around 3,500 people across some 800 families.

6. Sillustani

Coordinates
-15.71667, -70.15833
In one line
On a plateau above Lake Umayo near Puno, Sillustani preserves towering stone funerary towers called chullpas. Built by the Colla and later the Inca to entomb their elite, the tallest rises about 12 meters, marked by a carved lizard relief.

7. Yavarí Steamship

Coordinates
-15.8259, -69.9971
In one line
Built in England and carried over the Andes in thousands of mule-borne pieces, the iron steamship Yavarí was launched on Lake Titicaca in 1870. Among the oldest surviving lake steamers afloat, it is now a restored museum vessel moored at Puno harbor.

8. Cutimbo

Coordinates
-16.02083, -70.00222
In one line
Cutimbo is a pre-Inca and Inca burial ground on a flat-topped volcanic mesa near Puno, where tall square and round funerary towers built by the Colla, Lupaca, and Inca peoples still rise above the altiplano plain.

9. Chucuito

Coordinates
-15.89389, -69.88889
In one line
Chucuito is a lakeside colonial town some 18 kilometers from Puno, an early Spanish administrative center on Lake Titicaca. It holds two fine colonial churches and the walled stone enclosure known as Inca Uyo.

10. Inca Uyo Temple

Coordinates
-15.8922, -69.8888
In one line
Inca Uyo is a walled rectangular enclosure at Chucuito, filled with carved stone forms rising from the ground. Popularly linked to an ancient fertility cult, its true purpose remains debated by archaeologists.

11. Aramu Muru

Coordinates
-16.17069, -69.54109
In one line
Aramu Muru is a doorway shaped from a red rock face on the altiplano near Juli, a roughly seven-meter slab with a human-height niche cut into it. Known as the Gate of the Gods, it is wrapped in legend and Andean ritual.

12. Juli

Coordinates
-16.2125, -69.45833
In one line
Juli is a colonial town on Lake Titicaca known as Little Rome for its four grand churches. A major Jesuit mission center, it trained missionaries for the continent, and its carved church facades still command the lakeside.

13. Pomata

Coordinates
-16.27083, -69.29028
In one line
Pomata is a lakeside town on Titicaca famous for its pink-granite church of Santiago Apóstol, an eighteenth-century masterpiece of Andean Baroque carving with translucent alabaster windows and gold-leaf altars overlooking the lake.

14. Lampa

Coordinates
-15.36361, -70.36556
In one line
Lampa is an Andean town known as the Pink City for its rose-stone buildings. Its grand church of Santiago Apóstol holds a famous replica of Michelangelo's Pietà and a striking catacomb of bones beneath the dome.

15. Acora

Coordinates
-15.9751, -69.8041
In one line
Ácora is an Aymara altiplano town south of Puno, and has officially existed as a district since 12 November 1823. Sitting near 3,867 meters, it is ringed by ancient chullpa burial fields, colonial churches, and high farmland worked for centuries.

16. Puno Province

Coordinates
-15.84333, -70.02361
In one line
Puno Province wraps the western shore of Lake Titicaca, with Puno city as its capital. Created on 2 May 1854, it gathers fifteen districts of Quechua and Aymara communities across roughly 6,495 square kilometers of high altiplano near 3,827 meters.

17. Department of Puno

Coordinates
-15.84333, -70.02361
In one line
The Department of Puno is Peru's high southeastern region, created in 1822 and capital of Andean folklore. Spanning some 66,997 square kilometers along Lake Titicaca and the Bolivian border, it holds the famed Virgen de la Candelaria festival.

18. Atuncolla

Coordinates
-15.68806, -70.14417
In one line
Atuncolla is a Quechua district northwest of Puno, gateway to the Sillustani funerary towers above Lake Umayo. Sitting near 3,822 meters across roughly 125 square kilometers, it was a center of the pre-Inca Colla kingdom of the altiplano.

19. Paucarcolla

Coordinates
-15.7462, -70.0585
In one line
Paucarcolla is a Quechua district on Lake Titicaca's shore north of Puno. Once the namesake of the colonial province whose capital became Puno city in 1668, it sits near 3,847 meters across roughly 170 square kilometers of altiplano.

20. Platería

Coordinates
-15.9494, -69.8371
In one line
Platería is an Aymara district on Lake Titicaca's southern shore, established in 1964. Its Spanish name evokes silverwork. Sitting near 3,830 meters across roughly 241 square kilometers, it is home to lakeside farming and herding communities.

21. Capachica

Coordinates
-15.6394, -69.9768
In one line
Capachica is a Quechua peninsula district reaching into Lake Titicaca north of Puno. Sitting near 3,860 meters across roughly 117 square kilometers, it is known for lakeside beaches, the village of Llachón, and community-run homestay tourism.

22. Coata

Coordinates
-15.5773, -70.0267
In one line
Coata is a lakeshore district in Puno Province, set at approximately 3,814 meters where the Coata River meets Lake Titicaca. Its mostly Quechua-speaking communities live by farming, herding, and fishing the reed-fringed shallows.

23. Huata

Coordinates
-15.7, -70.18333
In one line
Huata sits in the Atuncolla district near Puno, an altiplano farming area at roughly 3,822 meters by Lake Umayo and the famed funerary towers of Sillustani. Its Quechua communities grow potatoes, quinoa, and hardy cañihua on the high plain.

24. Tiquillaca

Coordinates
-15.7974, -70.1895
In one line
Tiquillaca is a thinly populated highland district southwest of Puno, set at roughly 3,885 meters among rugged peaks like Kuntur Ikiña. Its Quechua communities farm and herd across one of the province's largest, most sparsely settled stretches of altiplano.

25. Vilque

Coordinates
-15.7662, -70.2611
In one line
Vilque is an altiplano district west of Puno, set at roughly 3,860 meters. In the 19th century its great fair drew traders from Bolivia and Argentina, famous above all for mules brought up from Salta. Today its Quechua communities farm and herd the high plain.

26. Lampa Province

Coordinates
-15.36361, -70.36556
In one line
Lampa Province spreads across roughly 5,992 square kilometers of northern Puno highlands. Its capital, Lampa, is the rose-stone "Pink City," whose colonial church holds a famous replica of Michelangelo's Pietà and an underground catacomb beneath its dome.

27. Coricancha (Qorikancha reference)

Coordinates
-13.51972, -71.97556
In one line
Coricancha, the Inca "golden temple" in Cusco, was the empire's holiest shrine, dedicated to the sun god Inti and once sheathed in gold. After 1533 the Spanish built the convent of Santo Domingo atop its surviving stone walls.

28. Uru People Community

Coordinates
-15.72712, -70.02973
In one line
The Uru live on roughly 120 floating islands woven from totora reed on Lake Titicaca near Puno. Calling themselves people of the lake, they rebuild the reed ground every few months, fish the shallows, and travel in curved reed boats.

29. Ichu Village

Coordinates
-15.875, -69.98333
In one line
Ichu is a small lakeside community south of Puno, set where the altiplano meets Lake Titicaca. Aymara families farm, fish, and graze livestock here, keeping a quiet rural rhythm within sight of the great blue water.

30. Ácora Town & Market

Coordinates
-15.9751, -69.8041
In one line
Ácora is an Aymara town on the altiplano road south of Puno, and has officially existed as a district since 12 November 1823. Its weekly market draws highland producers, and the surrounding country holds colonial churches and ancient chullpa funerary towers.

31. Juli Old Town

Coordinates
-16.2125, -69.45833
In one line
Juli is a colonial town on Lake Titicaca's southern shore, nicknamed Little Rome for its four grand churches. A major Jesuit mission center, it gained one of the first printing presses in the Americas in 1612.

32. Pomata Lakeside Neighbourhood

Coordinates
-16.27083, -69.29028
In one line
Pomata is an Aymara town set above Lake Titicaca's southern shore. It is crowned by the pink-granite church of Santiago Apóstol, a celebrated masterpiece of Andean Baroque carving with sweeping views over the lake.

33. Platería Lakeshore

Coordinates
-15.9494, -69.8371
In one line
Platería is a quiet Aymara district on Lake Titicaca's shore southeast of Puno, made its own district in 1964. Reed beds, lakeside fields, and a community whose name evokes silver give it a tranquil rural setting.

34. Capachica Peninsula Hamlets

Coordinates
-15.6394, -69.9768
In one line
The Capachica Peninsula reaches into Lake Titicaca north of Puno, its Quechua hamlets ringed by terraced fields and reed-lined coves. Communities here are known for warm homestays, traditional dress, and views toward Amantaní and Taquile.

35. Coata Fishing Village

Coordinates
-15.5773, -70.0267
In one line
Coata is a Quechua fishing village northwest of Puno, where the Coata River meets Lake Titicaca in a broad reedy delta. Families here live by the lake, fishing its waters and farming the flat shoreline plain.

36. Paucarcolla Old Village

Coordinates
-15.7462, -70.0585
In one line
Paucarcolla is an old Quechua village on the altiplano north of Puno, sitting near 3,847 meters beside Lake Titicaca. Its plaza church and farming lanes anchor a community whose roots reach deep into pre-Hispanic times.

37. Tiquillaca Highlands

Coordinates
-15.7974, -70.1895
In one line
Tiquillaca spreads across rugged highlands west of Puno, a wide district of mountains and herding country near 3,885 meters. Dozens of named peaks rise around a small Quechua village where pastoral life endures on the high, windswept altiplano.

38. Vilque Fair Town

Coordinates
-15.7662, -70.2611
In one line
Vilque is a quiet altiplano town west of Puno, near 3,860 meters, that once hosted one of the great fairs of the southern Andes. In the 19th century its annual market drew traders and mules from Bolivia and Argentina.

39. Huata Lakeside Community

Coordinates
-15.7, -70.18333
In one line
Huata is a lakeside Quechua community north of Puno, founded as a district in 1921 and sitting near 3,848 meters on the shore of Lake Titicaca. Its bays and reed beds support a life of farming, herding, and fishing.

40. Atuncolla Village

Coordinates
-15.68806, -70.14417
In one line
Atuncolla is a village northwest of Puno near 3,822 meters, set in old Colla country beside Lake Umayo. Its name recalls the great pre-Inca Colla kingdom, and the famed Sillustani burial towers rise within its district.

Roots Earth in short

Roots Earth has audio stories about 5,665 places in 130 cities, 25 countries and 6 regions, written by local people.

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