Paititi facts for kids

Paititi is a famous legend about a lost city. It was supposedly built by the Inca people. People say it's full of gold, silver, and jewels. This hidden city is believed to be in the remote rainforests. These forests are in places like southeast Peru, northern Bolivia, or northwest Brazil.

One story says that an Inca hero named Inkarri founded cities like Q'ero and Cusco. After that, he went into the jungles of Pantiacolla. He supposedly lived out his days in Paititi, his secret city. Other stories suggest Paititi was an Inca hideout. It might have been near the border of Bolivia and Brazil.

Searching for Paititi

Many people have searched for Paititi. They have looked for clues in old documents and explored the jungle.

Old Clues and Reports

In 2001, an Italian archaeologist named Mario Polia found an old report. It was written around 1600 by a missionary named Andres Lopez. This report described a large city. It was said to be rich in gold, silver, and jewels. The natives called this city Paititi. Lopez told the Pope about his discovery.

However, Lopez himself never reached Paititi. He only heard about it from local people. So, his report was based on stories, not on seeing the city. Many other historical documents from the 1500s to 1700s also mention Paititi. They talk about where it might be and expeditions that tried to find it.

Modern Research and Expeditions

In 2001, two researchers from the University of Helsinki had an idea. Dr. Ari Siiriäinen (an archaeologist) and Dr. Martti Pärssinen (a historian) thought Paititi might be linked to Inca trips into the Amazon jungle. They thought the Inca military might have been in the Beni and Madre de Dios river areas.

To test this idea, they led an expedition from 2001 to 2003. They explored a fortified site called Las Piedras in Eastern Bolivia. They found some pieces of Inca pottery there. But it's still not certain if the Inca built the site.

Vera Tyuleneva, a historian, has also explored northern Bolivia. She believes the name "Paititi" might not be from Peru. She has written detailed reports about her findings.

In 2007, people near Kimbiri, Peru, found large stone structures. They looked like high walls and covered a big area. They called it the Manco Pata fortress. But government researchers said these were just natural rock formations. Even so, Kimbiri decided to promote it as a place for tourists.

Andrew Nicol, an explorer, studied old historical texts. He thinks a hidden Inca city could exist in the Peruvian Amazon Basin. He points to places like Vilcabamba, Peru and Mameria as proof. These areas were part of Antisuyu, one of the four regions of the Inca empire.

In 2016, a French researcher named Vincent Pélissier claimed he found Paititi. He said he made the discovery in 2015. Pélissier believes that petroglyphs (rock carvings) at Pusharo are actually a map to Paititi. These carvings are on the Palatoa River. However, it's not confirmed if these carvings are from the Inca. Pélissier used Google Earth images to show what he found.

Expeditions in Search of Paititi (Past 100 Years)

Many explorers have tried to find Paititi over the last century. Here are some of their journeys:

• 1925: Percy Harrison Fawcett searched in Mato Grosso, Brazil.
• 1954 to 1955: Hans Ertl explored Bolivia.
• 1958 to 2003: Peruvian explorer Carlos Neuenschwander Landa led many expeditions. He searched in the Madre de Dios and Cusco regions.
• 1971: A French-American team went up the Rio Pantiacolla. Their guides left, and the three explorers disappeared. Later, it was confirmed they had been killed.
• 1984 to 2011: Gregory Deyermenjian led several trips. He documented Inca ruins in Mameria. He also explored the Pusharo petroglyphs and the Manu's Pyramids of Paratoari.
• 1997: Lars Hafskjold disappeared in Bolivia after setting out from Puerto Maldonado, Peru.
• 2001: The Kota Mama II expedition found ancient ruins in Bolivia. These ruins might be the same ones Hans Ertl found earlier.
• 2001: Thierry Jamin investigated the Pantiacolla area. He found Inca artifacts there.
• 2002: Jacek Pałkiewicz also undertook an expedition.
• 2004: The "Quest for Paititi" team found important Inca ruins. These were along branches of the Inca Road of Stone in northern Pantiacolla.
• 2005: Thierry Jamin and Herbert Cartagena studied the Pusharo petroglyphs. They thought they saw large geoglyphs nearby. They believed these might be a "map" to Paititi.
• 2009 to 2010: Olly Steeds looked for Paititi for his show Solving History with Olly Steeds.
• 2009 to 2011: Italian researcher Yuri Leveratto led expeditions. He reached one of the Pyramids of Pantiacolla.
• 2011: A British team investigated the Pyramids of Paratoari for a documentary.
• 2014: Josh Gates searched for Paititi for his show Expedition Unknown.Juan Álvarez Maldonado [es]

Ari Siiriäinen [fi] Carlos Neuenschwander Landa [es] Yuri Leveratto [es]

See also

In Spanish: Paititi para niños