Juli

At one time this village may have been an important Aymará religious center, and it has served as a Jesuit training center for missionaries from Paraguay and Bolivia. Juli has been called "Little Roma" because of its disproportionate number of churches. Four interesting churches in various stages of restoration are San Pedro Mártir, Santa Cruz de Jerusalén, Asunción, and San Juan de Letrán. The latter has 80 paintings from the Cusco School and huge windows worked in stone. Juli has a Saturday morning bartering market in the main square. It's not a handicraft market, but a produce and animal market where the barter system is in full effect and the trade of animals is interesting to watch. It starts at 9 am and is done by noon. The drive from Puno to Juli takes about 1½ hours.