Paititi

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Paititi refers to the legendary lost city said to lie east of the Andes, hidden somewhere within the remote rain forests of southeast Peru, northern Bolivia, and southwest Brazil. In Peru the Paititi legend revolves around the story of the culture-hero Inkarrí, who, after he founded Q'ero and Cuzco, retreated toward the jungles of Pantiacolla, to live out the rest of his days at his refuge city of Paititi. Other variants of the legend see Paititi as an Incan refuge in the border area between Bolivia and Brazil.

In 2001 the Italian archaeologist Mario Polia discovered the report of the missionary Andrea Lopez in the archives of the Jesuits in Rome. In the document, which originates from the time around 1600, Lopez describes a large city rich in gold, silver and jewels, located in the middle of the tropical jungle near a waterfall and called Paititi by the natives. Lopez informed the Pope about its discovery. Conspiracy theories maintain that the exact location of Paititi has been kept secret by the Vatican.

Within Peru the most serious and extensive investigations into lost sites within the mountains and jungles associated with Paititi have been carried out by the Peruvian medical doctor/explorer, Carlos Neuenschwander Landa; Argentinian Salesian priest/explorer, Juan Carlos Polentini Wester and, into the present day (2006), by psychologist/explorer, Gregory Deyermenjian (USA), and by frontiersman/cartographer/explorer Paulino Mamani (Peru).

[edit] Expeditions to seek Paititi

1925 Percy Harrison Fawcett (Madre de Dios, Peru)
1954 to 1955 Hans Ertl (Bolivia)
1972 Bob Nichols
1984 to 2000 altogether 12 expeditions by Gregory Deyermenjian in the remote mountain and jungle areas of the Departments of Cusco and Madre de Dios.
1997 Lars Hafksjold (Madre de Dios, Peru)
In June 2001, the Kota Mama II expedition led by John Blashford-Snell located significant ancient ruins in the jungle east of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, and which are believed to have been those discovered earlier by Hans Ertl.
2002 Jacek Palkiewicz (Madre de Dios)
The June 2004 Quest for Paititi exploration team of Deyermenjian and Mamani discovered several important Incan ruins along branches of the Incan Road of Stone at the peak known as Último Punto in the northern part of the Pantiacolla region of Peru
2005 the most recent expedition of Thierry Jamin and Herbert Cartagena
The 2006 Paititi Expedition: Beyond the Pantiacolla Plateau and the Furthest Reach of the Incas, carried out in June 2006 by Gregory Deyermenjian and Paulino Mamani to the Río Taperachi north of the Yavero, found the furthest Incan settlements yet identified beyond the highland remains they had found in 2004 at "Último Punto."
In November 2006 the Destinia.com expedition led by Juan José Revenga set out to search for Paititi in the area of the Rio Madre de Dios

[edit] References

Carlos Neuenschwander Landa (author of the books "PANTIACOLLO," "PAITITI: En la Bruma de la Historia" {1983}, and "PAITITI: Hipótesis Final" {2000})
Juan Carlos Polentini Wester (author of the books "Por la Rutas del Paititi" {1979} and "El Paí Titi ¡Padre Otorongo!" {1999};
Gregory Deyermenjian (USA) (author of the aricles "Mameria: An Incan Site Complex in the High-Altitude Jungles of Southeast Peru" {2003} and "The Petroglyphs of Pusharo: Peru's Amazonian Riddle" {2000} in Athena Review; "Glimmers of Paititi" {1999} in Mercator's World; "On the Trail of Legends: Searching for Ancient Ruins East of the Andes" {1999} in GPS World; and "The 1989 Toporake/Paititi Expedition: On the Trail of the Ultimate Refuge of the Incas" {1990} and "In Search of Paititi: Following the Road of Stone into an Unknown Peru" {2006} in The Explorers Journal)
El Dorado: polowanie na legendę (El Dorado: hunting the legend), Jacek Pałkiewicz and Andrzej Kapłanek. 2005.
East to the Amazon, John Blashford-Snell and Richard Snailham. 2003.
Paititi: Ein Spähtrupp in die Vergangenheit der Inkas, Hans Ertl. 1963.