The Gate of the Gods
Near Lake Titicaca, a smooth wall carved into a rock face looks like a giant doorway, with a small door at its base. Legend says a priest once escaped through it into another world.
What was reported
In a rocky landscape near Lake Titicaca in southern Peru, a large, flat, rectangular recess about 7 metres high has been carved into a rock face, with a smaller alcove at the bottom, like a doorway. It's known as Hayu Marca or the Puerta de Aramu Muru.
A legend tells that when the Spanish arrived, a priest named Aramu Muru fled with a golden disc, a sacred treasure, and passed through the doorway into the world of the gods, never to return. Since the 1990s, it has become a site for visitors seeking spiritual experiences.
Explanations offered
Archaeologists say little about the site, which may have been an unfinished carving, a shrine of the Inca or earlier peoples, or a natural feature that was shaped. The 'portal' legends seem to have grown mostly in recent decades, especially among tourists.
- When
- Popular since the 1990s
- Where
- Hayu Marca, near Juli, Puno, Peru
- Witnesses
- Local people and visitors
- Status
- Purpose unknown
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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