A small island (1.05 km²) 8 km east of the Island of the Sun, dedicated by the Incas to Mama Killa, the Moon. Its main site is Iñak Uyu, the “women's compound”: the acllahuasi that the Inca Túpac Yupanqui built on the eastern slope, with 35 rooms around a U-shaped courtyard, trapezoidal niches and views of Illampu. In the 20th century the island was a political prison; the ruins of the jail remain in the north. The Coati community has about 80 inhabitants.
Reached by boat from Yumani (30 to 45 minutes) or on tours from Copacabana (1.5 hours); agree the return with the boatman. Entry is 15 to 20 Bs in cash to the community. There are no ATMs, pharmacy or health post, and phone signal is almost nil. At the temple cover shoulders and knees, do not touch the offerings and do not enter private land.
LegendTraditional story: not a proven historical fact.
The myth says that Wiracocha, after bringing the Sun out of the Titikala, ordered the Moon to rise from Koati. That is why the island belongs to her, and why for centuries only consecrated women could live there: it was Mama Killa's home on earth.
Documented historyBacked by archaeological or historical sources.
The island was already a ceremonial place for Chiripa and Tiwanaku, but it was the Inca Túpac Yupanqui who built Iñak Uyu, the “women's compound”, on its eastern slope: an acllahuasi where the Virgins of the Sun learned to weave, to make chicha and to serve in the cult. Chroniclers tell of a statue of a woman with a gold torso and silver legs inside, an image of the Moon, and say the temple was looted and abandoned in colonial times.
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