Copacabana Travel Guide

The Basilica of Our Lady of Copacabana stands in the lakeside town of Copacabana on the Bolivian shore of Lake Titicaca, and is one of South America's most important Marian shrines. Its venerated statue of the Virgin was carved in the late 16th century by the indigenous craftsman Francisco Tito Inca, blending Inca and Spanish styles, and is credited with protecting lakeside communities for centuries. Each year around 2 August the Feast of the Virgin draws thousands of pilgrims amid candlelight and flower offerings. The basilica's white walls and red tiles glow in the highland sun, and from its upper terrace you can gaze across the blue waters of Titicaca — a natural starting point for the pilgrimage boat onward to the Isla del Sol.