 Hunzahúa, after whom the Well was named | |
  Location within Colombia | |
| Location | Tunja,Boyacá |
|---|---|
| Region | Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia |
| Coordinates | 5°33′13.92″N73°21′22.44″W / 5.5538667°N 73.3562333°W /5.5538667; -73.3562333 |
| Altitude | 2,715 m (8,907 ft)[1] |
| Type | Mythological site |
| Part of | Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia Muisca sites |
| History | |
| Abandoned | Spanish conquest |
| Periods | Late Muisca |
| Cultures | Muisca |
| Satellite of | Hunza |
| Site notes | |
| Public access | Yes |
TheHunzahúa Well (Spanish:Pozo de Hunzahúa) is an archeological site of theMuisca located in the city ofTunja,Boyacá, which in the time of theMuisca Confederation was called Hunza. The well is named after the firstzaque of Hunza,Hunzahúa. The well was calledPozo de Donato for a while, after 17th century Jerónimo Donato de Rojas.[2] The well is located on the campus of thePedagogical and Technological University of Colombia in Tunja.ScholarJavier Ocampo López has written about the well and itsmythology.[3] Knowledge about the well has been provided by scholarPedro Simón.
During the time before theSpanish conquest of the Muisca, the central highlands of the ColombianAndes (Altiplano Cundiboyacense) were populated by the Muisca. This advanced civilization had its own religion and rituals, centered around the most important deities Sué and Chía. The northern territories were ruled by theiraca ofSugamuxi, thetundama ofTundama and thezaque based in Hunza.
Hunzahúa, the firstzaque of Hunza, fell in love with his older sister, called Noncetá.[4] Because of the illegality ofincest in the Muisca traditions, Hunzahúa fled with his older sister toChipatá where he secretly married her. After the mother of both found out about this illegal act, she threw a stick to the couple that missed them both yet spilled thechicha over the ground, forming the Hunzahúa Well.[2]
Hunzahúa and his older sister fled toSusa and there Noncetá bore his child who promptly turned into a rock. The rock was left in a cave nearby. Upon this, the illegal couple continued further south into the terrains of thezipa until theTequendama Falls where they, tired and disillusioned, after hiding in the woods, turned into two stones.[2][5]
Decades after the mythological acts of Hunzahúa, his later successor aszaque of Hunza,Quemuenchatocha hid his treasures (mainlygold andemeralds) in the Well upon the arrival of the Spanishconquistadores.[2] Donato de Rojas ordered his men to try to recuperate the treasures of Quemuenchatocha, but without luck.[6]
Afterwards, more myths about the well surfaced; it would be bottomless or connected via a tunnel with the cathedral of Tunja.[7]
