Case file · Folklore / legend
The Laguna del Inca legend, Portillo
Legend says the emerald-green Laguna del Inca high in the Andes took its colour when the Inca Illi Yupanqui laid his bride, the princess Kora-llé, who had fallen from a cliff, to rest in its waters.
1910 CE · -32.83, -70.13 · status: legend
The account
Some say that on full-moon nights a lament is heard over the lake. The story circulated in Chilean literature in the early 20th century (the year is approximate), as the Trans-Andean railway brought travellers to the pass.
The sceptical view
A romantic literary legend; the lake's colour comes from fine glacial sediment.