Photos of Kalasasaya

The Gateway of the Sun (Puerta del Sol), the Kalasasaya Temple, Tiwanaku, Bolivia. by ER's Eyes

At the far northwest corner of Kalasasaya is Tiwanaku’s best-known structure, the 10-ton Puerta del Sol. This megalithic gateway was carved from a single block of andesite, and archaeologists assume that it was associated with the sun deity. The surface of this fine-grained, gray volcanic rock is ornamented with low-relief designs on one side and a row of four deep niches on the other. The gateway was most likely originally located in the center of Kalasasaya Platform and was used as a calendar, with the sun striking specific figures on the solstice and equinox. There’s a smaller, similar gateway carved with zoomorphic designs near the western end of the site that is informally known as the Puerta de la Luna.
The Temple of Kalasasaya (kala for stone; saya or sayasta for standing up) or Temple of Stopped Stones is in major archaeological site of pre-Columbian civilization of Tiwanaku and UNESCO World Heritage Site situated in Tiwanaku, Bolivia. Read further
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