CHUCUITO

HISTORY OF CHUCUITO: Chucuito, arises as district, to the political life, in the epoch of the Independence, April 02, 1564. Later Chucuito's district is created under law N ° 12301, with date May 03, 1955.

To know Chucuito's history, let's travel in the time 12 thousand years behind. Then, the first settlers, of Chucuito and its surroundings, were hunting with lances and arrows and were using the walls of the caves to paint rural scenes of then.

Of the inhabitants, who would live later in these singular lands, they have found remains of ceramics and monoliths (1,000 years before of C.) in the Caluyo Period. Of this epoch also it is Tunuhuiri's ceremonial center of the Pucara State.

Chucuito has formed a part of Tiahuanaco and was sedates of the government of the whole Kingdom Lupaca of Aymara tradition, since the year 900 before of C. approximately. Its influence spread up to the Moquegua valleys, Tacna and the Bolivian Altiplane.

Of those ancient times, in the Carina and Luquina sectors, there are funereal tombs leaned with stone forming mounds like small chullpas; also there is a circular ceremonial temple raised in stone which function still is not known.
In full height incáico, the Incas Pachacutec and Túpac Yupanqui established and guaranteed these territories for the Inka Empire. Mayta Capac remodelled Chucuito's city with palaces and ceremonial centers.

In January, 1533, Diego de Agüero and Pedro Martínez de Moguer were the first Spanish who came to the Lupacas capital. Knowing of the existence of great quantity of golden pieces left and then hidden, these Spanish managed to extract them of Chucuito's lake; it was nothing less than a small part of the exchequer that was sent for the rescue of the Inca Atahualpa.

In 1535, the armies of Diego de Almagro and Paulo Inka occupied Chucuito, not contentment with the successful thing, immediately they plundered diverse altiplane’s villages.

In 1548, the Viceroy La Gasca, names like royal civil servant of Chucuito to Diego de Mercado and in 1550, he fixes the taxation for the settlers of Chucuito's province.

The Chucuito’s authorities, on April 02, 1564 moved to Juli's Village to establish the San Pedro convent and the Santo Tómas de Aquino Church, for that they use them as center of Catechizing of the Indians.

Concluded the above mentioned acts, on April 5, they returned Chucuito to feast the San Vicente de Ferrer’s day. Then Chucuito had more than 29 years of Spanish life as city and 25 years of there having being declared Commission of the King Carlos V of Spain.

The name’s origin of chucuito, according to some historians, comes from the aymará CHUCO, which means blanket or overflow, and the endding ITO, which is use like diminutive, in conclusion Chucuito would mean small blanket, used by the women to cover the head. According to other investigators would come from other Aymara’s words, specifically of CHUKI, which means gold and WITIO, which means portion of land that penetrates in the lake or to gather of the river. For that would mean golden hill.

CHUCUITO's LOCATION
Chucuito's district is located to 18 Km to the south of the province and Puno's Department. It has like capital to the city of Chucuito's Royal Boxes, and places in the great Collao plateau and on the side of the highest navigable Lake of the world, the Titicaca.

For land, it is possible come to Chucuito and to the peninsula that spreads entering for several kilometers inside the Titicaca Lake, following the Panamericana Sur road. For water it is accessible thanks to the multiple launches and small boats arranged for such purpose. The Chucuito's peninsula is between the coordinates: 69º48 ' of west length, 15º46 ' of south latitude and 69º46 ' west and 15º54 ' south, of the meridian of Greenwich. It has an extension of 450 Km2.

POLITICAL LOCATION     

CHUCUITO's HOLIDAYS
In Chucuito's peninsula live together the ancient thing with brought of out. There are practiced holidays, which last spite of the time, with those that were imposed by the conquerors. The altiplane is an extensive emporium of thousands of autochthonous dances, some of them have become extinct and others are kept like in the past. The men pass and the dances with them, it is a natural law, some of them will last more of the due thing...

March - April, Holy Week; specifically in the Resurrection are executed autochthonous dances, where the population takes part as a whole.

On April 01, Anniversary of Foundation of the Chucuito’s Village, with civic manifestations, popular fair and presentation of dances.

On May 3, Cross’s Festivity with manifestations regional custom, religious and sponsor.

On August 15, Virgin of the Asuncion’s Festivity with the accomplishment of the Huaccha, it used to elaborate quispiños (compact rolls of quinua flour) in great quantity to share them with the visitors.

On October 12, Virgin of the Rosario’s day; with a week of feasts. There are processions, fireworks, bullfights, dances and popular fair.

On December 6, Alacitas Fair, with marketing of crafts in miniature.
There isn’t village, in the altiplane, which does not have its own dances. The children will imitate their parents the same thing that those imitated theirs.

CHUCUITO's CLIMATE

Relief
Is irregular, mountainous. It has numerous elevations, depressions and plains. Chucuito's peninsula with Capachica’s peninsula form the Puno's gulf.

Climate
Belongs to the Subtype of Climate "A" in agreement to the system of classification of climates of W. Thorn Waite. The Titicaca lake acts as a gigantic thermoregulatory diminishing the climatic rigors, it eliminates the extreme peaks of temperature and dampness.

The climate is cold and semidry. The average temperature is of 9ºC, the minimum is 3ºC and one maximum of 19ºC. The months with lower temperatures are June and July. It identifies a period of rains and a dry period; the average rainfall is of 700mm. A year. The most rainy months are between January and March and the dry period generally between May and August. The relative dampness is 60 %.

Climatic risks
As for the climatic risks, they are considered of major importance by the extreme behavior of the rainfalls. The droughts and floods happened periodically in the altiplane have produced a considerable effect in the socioeconomic activities, principally the agricultural; causing the loss of crops and cattle mortality, including deterioration of infrastructures, with the consequent social and economic effects in the rural population.

The environmental conditions of the zone can cause altitude sickness in the visitors who are exposed to the heights.

In the rains period, the peninsula offers all green that the nature could imagine.
1.  The Sun shines in the sunny days. Chucuito’s peninsula presents the best panoramas then that the rain was watering. The perfume of the plants is so changed like it is the miles of species of flora that to take root the peninsular land.

The temperature of the water at the time becomes propitious to give a good dip. There below of the surface multiple creatures, fish, amphibians and aquatic insects move their bodies between the delicate aquatic flora.

CHUCUITO's TRADITIONS

Customs.
In Chucuito the custom of the carnival coincides with the epoch of the bloom of the farms, creating an atmosphere of happiness and well-being in the Andean population, begins in Sunday, with the visit to nearby relatives who dance accompanied with musicians of happy bands for  whole tour.

Gown.
The typical clothes of Chucuito's peninsula are made entirely by the wool of the animals that breeding for this purpose for a lot of time behind. The sheeps have replaced to the alpacas and llamas but the designs of the masculine and feminine clothes continue being the same, though by these times the synthetic materials are imposed, treating about the clothes. 
Women use an Andean skirt, a shirt with chromatic adornments and a hat; the men, black trousers with white shirt.

Gastronomy:

RURAL TOURISM

1. - The tourism vivencial, it means sharing knowledges, traditions, the rural families' own activities as: fishing, agriculture, cattle raising, trade, dance and music. The visitor participates with the families' activities that attend to him and the visitor in turn shares his knowledges like a relative of the same family.

2. - The social topic is a decisive factor in the development of the activities related with the vivencial tourism, the family groups and the communities which must participate in shape active in the decision makings. People must respect and value ancestral ways of life to interchange positive experiences with the visitors.

Rural tourism respects the nature as a whole; the visitor appraises the traditional practices of soil conservation, Andean products, flora, fauna and other ancestral knowledges bound up with the handling of the natural resources and the environment. Finally economic dimension permits the families incrementing their earnings on the basis of the improvement in the services of tourism and the environmental value of the natural landscapes.

3. - the principal components of vivencial turism  must have a functioning focus in shape of systems, that is each one connected to each component and whose effect must influence in the rural tourism's development or handicraft.

4. - The promotion and diffusion is one of the strategic and important components in order to the increment of the number of national and foreigner visitors. Is important accomplishing a sustainable strategy promotional and diffusion of the natural and cultural potentialities of Amantani Island. We have considered several important elements In the promotion and diffusion.

5. - Is important achieving a vivencial tourist product. It requires capacitation and implementation in fundamental elements as certainty in health, transportation, systems of communication, Internet, telephone, the quality of the services and the attention's warmth.

6. - The innovation in the rural vivencial tourism's activity and handicraft must be constant. For example, the families innovate their match boardinghouse according to their creativity, thus there is an innovative - arrangements diversity that permits that the tourists may enjoy the diversity of the houses where will stay themselves. The innovation in handicraft is more permanent and there must be an improvement of the product's quality.