According to Incan mythology, Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo, also known as Mama Huaca, emerged from the depths of Lake Titicaca on the sacred rock gate on Isla Del Sol to found the Inca Empire.
The sister island of Isla de la Luna is not as well visited, but is also a holy place as it housed the Convent of the Virgins of the Sun. The entire lake was a holy place. Also connected with the legend of Lake Titicaca is the Lemurian Solar Disc which governed the thousand year cycle of Incan time.
According to legend, when the Spanish forces reached Cuzco, the Incas took the two-ton gold chain of Inca Huascar from the temple at Koricancha and threw it into the lake. It has never been found although some years ago Jacques Cousteau himself mounted an expedition to explore the lake with a mini-submarine.
