South America

Places in this region

Choquequirao, Peru

White llama terraces dazzle in Peru's "other Machu Picchu"

Known as the other Machu Picchu, Choquequirao ("Cradle of Gold") is preferred by serious hikers who enjoy the untamed nature of the trails. Remoteness and inaccessibility have kept most potential... »

Natural Wonders, Cultures and Civilizations , Incredible Ruins | Edited by Nicholas Jackson

The Last Handwoven Bridge

Keshwa chaca, the last handwoven Incan bridge, crosses Apurimac Canyon in Peru

Known as keshwa chaca, this is the only remaining example of the Incan handwoven bridges once common in the Incan road system. Made of woven grass, the bridge spans 118 feet and hangs 220 feet... »

Architectural Oddities, Long Now Locations, Incredible Ruins, Outsider Architecture | Edited by Dylan, Henry and others

The Uros People of Lake Titicaca

The Uros people live on floating reed islands in lake Titicaca

On Lake Titicaca, one ancient people, the Uros, live on islands made of living reeds that float around the lake. The Uros people have been living on the lake for hundreds of years—they were... »

Anomalous Islands, Lost Tribes, Eccentric Homes | Edited by Henry and Dylan

Xul Solar Museum

Xul Solar was an artist of alternate worlds, inventor of languages, and dreamer of utopias

With dreams of reforming and perfecting the universe, Argentine artist Xul Solar invented two languages, a spiritual form of chess, a modified piano, and painted works based on his own blend of... »

Museums and Collections, Outsider Art | Edited by allison and Dylan

The tomb of Rufina Cambacérès

A beautiful young girl buried alive in her coffin…

The Cemetario de la Recoleta in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is easily one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world. Designed by French engineer Próspero Catelin and remodeled in 1881, the... »

Unusual Monuments, Strange Statues, Memento Mori, Catacombs, Crypts, & Cemeteries | Edited by Dylan and wythe

Aramu Muru

An abandoned Incan construction project left behind a mysterious "doorway"

In the early 1990s, mountaineering guide Jose Luis Delgado Mamani was exploring the Peruvian countryside when he came across an area where the rock had been smoothed to a flat surface and adorned... »

Cultures and Civilizations , Lost Tribes, Incredible Ruins, Outsider Architecture | Edited by Dylan and wythe

Pyramids of Paratoari

Mysterious "dots" seen from a satellite in southeast Peru

In 1976 NASA satellite photograph number C-S11-32W071-03 showed something very odd in the middle of southeast Peru's dense jungle: evenly spaced pyramid like objects lined up in seemingly neat... »

Geological Oddities, Cultures and Civilizations , Lost Tribes | Edited by Dylan

El Peñon de Guatape

A ten-million-ton rock once worshiped by the Tahamies Indians

A massive stone rising over 650 feet out of the flat ground of Guatape, Colombia, the Piedra de Penol or El Peñon de Guatape was once worshiped by the Tahamies Indians. By the 1900s, the massive... »

Natural Wonders, Geological Oddities | Edited by Dylan and wythe

Pizarro's Tomb

Now containing the bones of the actual conquistador, instead of someone else

For almost a century, the mummified remains of the conquistador Francisco Pizarro were on display in a glass casket in the Cathedral of Lima, Peru. The remains were visited by Catholic and Spanish... »

Relics and Reliquaries, Catacombs, Crypts, & Cemeteries, Curious Places of Worship, Dead Explorers | Edited by Annetta, wythe and others

Gruta Do Lago Azul: The Blue Lake Grotto

Part of one of the largest flooded cavities on the planet, and littered with prehistoric animal bones.

It is possible that no human had set foot in this cave until its discovery in 1924 by one of the local Terena Indian's who, as far as it is known, had not been aware of the beautiful caves... »

Natural Wonders, Watery Wonders, Curious Caves | Edited by Dylan, Annetta and others

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