Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

n Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 it had a population of 172,548 inhabitants. It is the capital of Boyacá department and the

Central Boyacá Province The Central Boyacá Province () is a province of the Colombian Department of Boyacá. The province is formed by fifteen municipalities, including the departmental capital Tunja. Municipalities Cómbita • Cucaita • Chíquiza • Chivat� ...

. Tunja is an important

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

al centre of well-known universities. In the time before the

Spanish conquest of the Muisca The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were organised in a loose confederation of diff ...

, there was an indigenous settlement, called Hunza, seat of the ''hoa'' Eucaneme, conquered by the Spanish conquistadors on August 20, 1537. The Spanish city was founded by captain Gonzalo Suárez Rendón on August 6, 1539, exactly one year after the capital

Santafé de Bogotá Santa Fe (Spanish; 'holy faith') or Santa Fé (Portuguese; 'holy faith') may refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Fe, Argentina **Santa Fe Province Bolivia * Santa Fe de Yapacaní * Santa Fe (Oruro) Brazil *Bonito de Santa Fé * Santa Fé de Goiá ...

. The city hosts the most remaining Muisca architecture: Hunzahúa Well, Goranchacha Temple and Cojines del Zaque. Tunja is a

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

destination, especially for religious colonial architecture, with the Casa Fundador Gonzalo Suárez Rendón as oldest remnant. In addition to its religious and historical sites it is host to several internationally known

festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival ...

and is a jumping-off point for regional tourist destinations such as Villa de Leyva,

Paipa Paipa is a town and municipality in the Tundama Province, a part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. Paipa borders Duitama, Firavitoba, Tibasosa, Sotaquirá and Tuta.Sierra Nevada del Cocuy. It is a stop on the

Pan American Highway The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...

which connects Tunja to Bogotá and Santa Marta and eventually to the northern and southernmost parts of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

Demographics and geography

Tunja has a population of 172,548 inhabitants according to the 2018 Census. 0.1% of the city is indigenous, 0.4% is black, and 99.5% is white and Mestizo. It is located in central Colombia, at an elevation ranging from approximately to . The city centre is at an elevation of above sea level.

Climate

Tunja's climate is influenced by its location and altitude. At almost 3000 m it is one of the higher cities in Colombia. As a result, the city features a subtropical highland climate ( Köppen ''Cfb'') with little variation in temperature throughout the year but a distinct dry season from December to February.

History

Pre-Columbian era

The earliest evidence of human population on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense has been dated to approximately 12.000 years ago. Homus Tequendama inhabited the area by 6375 BCE. Archeologists have found human skeletons including arm bones in the area. Many archaeological discoveries were found in the area of the present-day city, dated to approximately 150 BCE. During the 1st millennium AD, the territory was inhabited by the Muisca, who spoke Chibcha and emigrated from

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

through

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

to the Andean Region. The Muisca developed their own

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a phy ...

and

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

. According to those myths, it was the brutal ''

cacique A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a S ...

'' and

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the ...

Goranchacha who moved the capital for the northern Muisca from Ramiriquí to Tunja, then called Hunza.

Early Muisca

An era when frequent battles among '' cacicazgos'' took place, peace was proposed for the region and an agreement was made among ''

s'' to choose a supreme chief to rule them all.

Hunzahúa Hunzahúa was the first ''zaque''; ruler of the northern Muisca with capital Hunza, named after him. His contemporary ''zipa'' of the southern Muisca was Meicuchuca. Biography Hunzahúa, heir of Idacansás, was a ''cacique'' in the sacred val ...

, who came from Ramiriqui, was elected. The capital of his confederation was named ''Hunza''.

took the title of ''

hoa The Hoa people ( Vietnamese: ''Người Hoa'', or ) are citizens of Vietnam of full or partial Chinese origin. Chinese migration into Vietnam dates back millennia but most Hoa today derive their recent ancestral Chinese heritage from the 18t ...

'' ("great lord", the same meaning as '' psihipqua'' who ruled from Muyquytá), and reign over the lands from the Chicamocha to Fusagasugá and from the Llanos de San Juan to Panche and Muzo frontiers, including Vélez territory. This helped to unify the Muisca, especially with respect to their language and religion, until '' zipa'' Saguamanchica broke this unity due to differences with the ''cacique'' of Guatavita.

Late Muisca (1490–1539)

Saguamanchica, with 50,000 soldiers, decided on a massive attack on ''hoa'' Michuá, crossing Guatavita and Chocontá, after which the

Battle of Chocontá The Battle of Chocontá was one of a series of battles in the ongoing conflict between the northern and southern Muisca of pre-Columbian central Colombia. The battle was fought 1490 in the vicinity of Chocontá. An army of 50,000 southern Muisca ...

is named. Michuá dealt with him, supported by an army which doubled Saguamanchica, battling around three hours and killing both chiefs. A new ''hoa'', Eucaneme, was installed, during the tense truce between Bacatá and Hunza. In 1514, Eucaneme found out about the expansionist intentions of the new ''psihipqua'' Nemequene. He asked the ''caciques'' of

Gámeza Gámeza () is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the Sugamuxi Province, a subregion of Boyacá. The town center is located at from Sogamoso and the municipality borders Tasco and Corrales in the north, Tó ...

, Sugamuxi, Tundama and

Sáchica Sáchica is a municipality of Colombia situated approximately west of Tunja in the Ricaurte Province of the department of Boyacá. Sáchica borders Sutamarchán and Villa de Leyva in the north, in the east Chíquiza, Samacá and Ráquira i ...

to help him to reinforce his army. A battle was fought in Ventaquemada and, when Nemequene was about to become the victor, he was fatally wounded and his troops retreated. Iraca retracted his support and Eucaneme got a truce whose terms would end when the Spanish arrived. When Eucaneme found out the Europeans were around his lands, he decided to stay in Hunza and avoided any aggression against the invaders. He forbade under strict penalties to show the conquistadors the path to his headquarters and when he knew they were reaching him, he sent them gifts and peacemakers, hoping to stop them while he was hiding his treasures.

Hunza in Muisca history

Spanish colony (1539-1811)

Spanish Discovering of Hunza (1537)

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada parted from Santa Marta in April 1536, on the first main expedition into the Andes. His main goal was to find and conquer ''

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king ...

''. After months of traveling, he found many Muisca ''

cacicazgo ''Cacicazgo'' is a phonetic Spanish transliteration (or a derivative) of the Taíno word for the lands ruled by a ''cacique''. The Spanish colonial system recognized indigenous elites as nobles in Mexico and Peru, and other areas. Nobles could en ...

s'' in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense. In his search, he acquired information about emerald discoveries and other treasures in

Somondoco Somondoco is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá. This town and larger municipal area are located in the Valle de Tenza. The Valle de Tenza is the ancient route connecting the Altiplano Cundiboyacense and the Llanos. ...

and the Llanos. On August 20, 1537, the conquerors arrived, with horses and dogs. Jiménez de Quesada arrived at the headquarters of Quemuenchatocha, finding him in a chair, dressed in gold in the same way as his companions who ran off, leaving him alone. The gold, the emeralds and the fancy fabrics were taken. This conquest took place where later the San Agustin Convent was built. Quemuenchatocha was taken to Suesca, with the hope he would reveal where he hid the rest of his treasure. He abdicated in favour of his nephew

Aquiminzaque Aquiminzaque (Chibcha: ''Aquim ó Quiminza'', died Tunja, 1540) was the last '' hoa'' of Hunza, on which the Spanish city of Tunja (in present-day Colombia) was built, reigning from 1537 until his death. His '' psihipqua'' counterpart in the sout ...

and retired to Ramiriquí where he died.

Invasion of Hunza (1538-1539)

The Spanish Invasion of the territory begins when Jimenez de Quesada captures Quemuenchatocha who is succeeded in life by the young Aquiminzaque. The latter, along with his tribe were taken as an encomienda by Hernán Pérez de Quesada. The new zaque did not show belligerent in front of the Spaniards, and later himself converted to Catholicism. The continuous and numerous exigencies made by Spaniards started to discomfort among the Muisca population. Aquiminzaque should verify his nuptials with the daughter of the cacique of Gameza and many chiefs decided to go the solemn ceremony. A rumour came to Perez de Quesada that the occasion would be used as an insurrection, for which he apprehended Aquiminzaque and all the caciques, among them the ones from Toca, Motavita, Samacá, Turmequé and Sutamarchán, and condemn them to death. In 1540, the Zaque was beheaded and his death marked the end of the dynasty of zaques of Hunza. In the same way, it points to the disintegration and dispersion of natives in encomiendas along the new

Tunja Province Tunja Province was one of the provinces of Gran Colombia. It belonged to the Boyacá Department Boyacá () is one of the thirty-two departments of Colombia, and the remnant of Boyacá State, one of the original nine states of the " United ...

City Foundation (1539-16th Century)

The Spanish city of Tunja was founded on the lands of Quemuenchatocha, where later the convent of San Agustin was built. Founded by Captain Gonzalo Suarez Rendón, on August 6, 1539, the main square was established, also a yard for the church and public buildings around the square; in 1550, the city outlines were consolidated. The same year, The

franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

arrive to the city, and the Dominicans a year later, the

Augustinians Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–1 ...

in 1585 and the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

in 1611; To the foundation, 77 yards are added and divided, along with 70 vegetable gardens, 11 estates and 44 stables. Only until 1616 two parishes are built to receive mestizos and Indians during colonial period: Santa Barbara, at southwest and Las Nieves, at north.

Security and living conditions

Tunja has the lowest homicide rate in

and is below average in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

according to the report from the International Centre of the Prevention of Crime for 2010. 2 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015 makes the city one of the safest in the Americas. According to other sources, this value is four times lower than the national average. Tunja is an example of a safe city. Tunja norte

Uno de los Nuevos Edificios en el Sector de Unicentro - Barrio La Esmeralda TUNJA D

Tourism

Relevant historical and tourist sites

The streets are named according to 472 and

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets (Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...

nomenclatures — (C: calle), (K: carrera), (S: aouth), (E: east), (A: ave). Southern Sector Eastern Sector Downtown Northern Sector

Festivals

* International Festival of Culture *

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

(''Semana Santa'') * Aguinaldo Boyacense

Shopping

Downtown

Main places of interest are: *El Cid *El Virrey *Teatro Boyacá *Cinema Boyacá

Shopping malls

Unicentro is a shopping center that features a Jumbo and a

Cinemark Theatres Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (stylized as CineMark from 1998 to 2022 and CINEMARK since 2022) is an American movie theater chain that started operations in 1984 and since then it has operated theaters with hundreds of locations throughout the Ameri ...

among many other stores. Viva, a brand of Shopping Centers of Grupo Éxito.

Traditional markets

* Plaza de Mercado del Norte * Plaza de Mercado del Sur

Education

Relative to its small size, Tunja has been important in providing education. A large part of its population are students between high school and university. Tunja has a considerable number of colleges, among these is the College of Boyacá, the first public school in the territories of Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama and Colombia, established when these countries were part of

Gran Colombia Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), or Greater Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia ( Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to ...

. It was founded on 20 October 1822 by Vice President Francisco de Paula Santander. Among the most important schools are: * Colegio de Boyacá * Institucion Educativa San Jeronimo Emiliani * Colegio Salesiano Maldonado * Colegio INEM Carlos Arturo Torres * Colegio de la Presentación * Gimnasio Campestre del Norte. * Colegio Municipal Silvino Rodríguez * Escuela Normal Superior Santiago de Tunja. * Escuela Normal Femenina "Leonor Álvarez Pinzón" * Colegio Los Angeles * Colegio Militar Juan José Rondón * Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Rosario * Colegio Gustavo Rojas Pinilla * Colegio Andino * Colegio American School Saint Frances * Country Bilingual School

Universities

Tunja's major university, the

Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia The Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia (), also known as "La UPTC", is a national public university in Colombia with main campus in Tunja and presence in the country's seven departments. The university has a headquarters, th ...

(Uptc), was founded by General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, and is one of the public universities in Colombia. Other universities are: * University of Boyaca * Universidad Santo Tomás * Escuela Superior de Administración Pública E.S.A.P. * Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia (UNAD) * Fundacion Universitaria Juan de Castellanos * Corporación Universitaria Remington (CUR-Cread Boyacá) * Universidad Antonio Nariño * Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana de Colombia * Instituto Universitario de la Música y las Artes

Sports

The city has two professional football teams:

Boyacá Chico Boyacá is the name of a region in Colombia. It may refer to other connections to Colombia: * Battle of Boyacá * Boyacá Department (Gran Colombia) * Boyacá Department ** Boyacá, Boyacá, a municipality * Boyacá State Boyacá State was one ...

and

Patriotas F.C. The ''Patriots'' novel series is a five-novel series by survivalist novelist and former U.S. Army officer and blogger, James Wesley Rawles. It is followed by his ''Counter-Caliphate Chronicles'' novel series. ''Patriots: A Novel of Survival i ...

The teams play in the Colombian Professional Football A league. They play their games at La Independencia Stadium in the north of the city. The stadium was rebuilt for the Copa Libertadores 2009, expanding capacity to 20,630 spectators and meeting FIFA specifications. The city organized the 2008 South American U-20 Futsal Cup in which Brazil was awarded as the championship. Colombia secured the fourth position in the tournament. The city has a professional basketball team called Patriotas that plays in the Saludcoop Invitational Cup. This team plays its matches in the Municipality Colosseum that has a capacity of up to 5,000 spectators.

Born in Tunja

* Jair Bernal, former professional cyclist * Iván Casas, professional cyclist * Francisca Josefa de la Concepción, Criollo nun * Pedro Antonio Herrera, professional cyclist * José Ibáñez, former professional cyclist * Diego Molano Vega, politician * Gustavo Nieto Roa, film director * Juan Carlos Pinzón, ambassador of Colombia to the United States * Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, former president of Colombia * Diego de Torres y Moyachoque, 16th century mestizo ''cacique'' of

Turmequé Turmequé is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the subregion of the Márquez Province. Turmequé is located at northeast from the capital Bogotá. The municipality borders Ventaquemada in the west, in the e ...

Sister cities

* :

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

* :

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

* : Jyväskylä * :

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

* :

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also b ...

* :

Potenza Potenza (, also , ; , Potentino dialect: ''Putenz'') is a ''comune'' in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania). Capital of the Province of Potenza and the Basilicata region, the city is the highest regional capital and one ...

(2009) * : Tapachula * : Juliaca * :

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

* :

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most po ...

(2013) * : Sevilla * : Toledo (2013) * :

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

(2012) * : Popayán (2012) * : San Juan de Pasto * : Valledupar

References

External links

*
News from Tunja at Excelsio
*
News from Tunja at Mi Tunja.net
{{Authority control Municipalities of Boyacá Department Populated places established in 1539 Capitals of Colombian departments 1539 establishments in the Spanish Empire