Bennett Monolith, Tiwanaku Semi-Subterranean Temple Replica, La Paz, Bolivia

The Bennett Monolith is the name of the large sculpture in the middle of this photo, which comes from a slide taken in La Paz, Bolivia, by an unknown photographer in the 1950s.

In 1933 the Bennett Monolith was removed from the Semi-Subterranean Temple located at the Pre-Columbian Tiwanaku archeological site near Lake Titicaca in western Bolivia. As seen here in a rear view, the monolith was installed as the centerpiece of a replica of the temple that was constructed in La Paz.

The removal of the Bennett Monolith from the archeological site was controversial, however, and in 2002 it was returned to Tiwanaku, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (see Tiwanaku: Spiritual and Political Centre of the Tiwanaku Culture). A reproduction of the monolith now stands in place of the original in the replica of the temple in La Paz.

For more information about the Bennett Monolith, see the Spanish-language Wikipedia article Monolito Bennett and view additional images of the monolith on Wikimedia Commons.

The wall surrounding the replica of the Semi-Subterranean Temple (part of the wall is visible here in the background) was captured in another slide by the same photographer. See Wall of Stone Heads (below):