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Tunja
Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian 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. Tunja is an important educational centre of well-known universities. In the time before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca, 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. The city hosts the most remaining Muisca architecture: Hunzahúa Well, Goranchacha Temple and Cojines del Zaque. Tunja is a tourist 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 ...
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Gonzalo Suárez Rendón
Gonzalo Suárez Rendón (1503, Málaga, Castile – 1590 (or 1583), Tunja, New Kingdom of Granada) was a Spanish conquistador, known as the founder of the capital of Boyacá; Tunja, second city of the New Kingdom of Granada. A veteran of the Italian Wars, he also fought in Germany, Austria and Hungary, before taking part in the Spanish conquest of the Muisca people led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, and later by his brother Hernán Pérez de Quesada. On August6, 1539, he founded Tunja on the site of the former seat of the '' hoa'' (ruler) of the Hunza.List of conquistadors led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada


Goranchacha Temple
The Goranchacha Temple (Spanish: ''Templo de Goranchacha'') is an archeological site of the Muisca located in the city of Tunja, Boyacá, which in the time of the Muisca Confederation was called Hunza. The temple is named after the mythological Goranchacha. The remains of the temple are located on the terrain of the Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia in Tunja. Scholar Javier Ocampo López has written about the temple and its religious meaning.Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.13, p.81 Knowledge about the temple has been provided by chronicler Pedro Simón.Goranchacha
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Background

During the time before the

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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 different rulers; the '' psihipqua'' of Muyquytá, with his headquarters in Funza, the '' hoa'' of Hunza, the ''iraca'' of the sacred City of the Sun Sugamuxi, the Tundama of Tundama, and several other independent ''caciques''. The most important rulers at the time of the conquest were ''psihipqua'' Tisquesusa, ''hoa'' Eucaneme, ''iraca'' Sugamuxi and Tundama in the northernmost portion of their territories. The Muisca were organised in small communities of circular enclosures (''ca'' in their language Muysccubbun; literally "language of the people"), with a central square where the '' bohío'' of the ''cacique'' was located. They were called "Salt People" because of their extraction of salt in various locations throughout their territories, ma ...
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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 States of Colombia". Boyacá is centrally located within Colombia, almost entirely within the mountains of the Eastern Cordillera to the border with Venezuela, although the western end of the department extends to the Magdalena River at the town of Puerto Boyacá. Boyacá borders to the north with the Department of Santander, to the northeast with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Norte de Santander, to the east with the departments of Arauca and Casanare. To the south, Boyacá borders the department of Cundinamarca and to the west with the Department of Antioquia covering a total area of . The capital of Boyacá is the city of Tunja. Boyacá is known as "The Land of Freedom" because this region was the scene of a series of battles which led to Colombia's independence from Spain. The first one took place on 25 July 1819 in ...
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Cojines Del Zaque
The ''Cojines del Zaque'' (English: "Cushions of the ''Zaque''") is an archeological site of the Muisca located in the city of Tunja, Boyacá, which in the time of the Muisca Confederation was called Hunza. The ''cojines'' are two round stones used in the religion of the Muisca to worship Sun god Sué and his wife; Moon goddess Chía. When the Spanish conquistadores arrived, they called them ''Cojines del Diablo''. Background During the time before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca, the central highlands of the Colombian Andes (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 the ''iraca'' of Sugamuxi, the ''tundama'' of Tundama and the ''zaque'' based in Hunza. Description The Cojines are two circular stones made of sandstone located at the base of the San Lázaro hill in Tunja. The northernmost ''Cojín'' mea ...
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Altiplano Cundiboyacense
The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Altiplano Cundiboyacense comprises three distinctive flat regions; the Bogotá savanna, the valleys of Ubaté and Chiquinquirá, and the valleys of Duitama and Sogamoso. The average altitude of the altiplano is about above sea level but ranges from roughly to . Etymology ''Altiplano'' in Spanish means "high plain" or "high plateau", the second part is a combination of the departments Cundinamarca and Boyacá. Geography The limits of the Altiplano are not strictly defined. The high plateau is enclosed by the higher mountains of the Eastern Ranges, with the Sumapaz mountains in the south and Chingaza to the east. The Tenza Valley is located to the east of the Altiplano and the Ocetá Páramo and Chicamocha Canyon are situated to the ...
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Quemuenchatocha
Quemuenchatocha or Quimuinchateca (named in the earliest sources Eucaneme) (Hunza, 1472–Ramiriquí, 1538) was the second-last '' hoa'' of Hunza, currently known as Tunja, as of 1490. He was the ruler of the northern Muisca when the Spanish conquistadores arrived in the Muisca highlands. His contemporary enemy '' psihipquas'' of the southern Muisca were successively Nemequene and Bogotá. Biography Eucaneme was eighteen years old when he accessed the throne, succeeding his predecessor Michuá as ruler of the northern Muisca. His reign was cruel and under his tyranny the Muisca feared him. His rule was so brutal that when the Spanish conquerors entered the outskirts of the capital Hunza and found a hill with poles where bodies were dangling, they named it ''Cerro de la Horca'' ("Gallows Hill").Biography of Que ...
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Hunzahúa Well
The Hunzahúa Well (Spanish: ''Pozo de Hunzahúa'') is an archeological site of the Muisca located in the city of Tunja, Boyacá, which in the time of the Muisca Confederation was called Hunza. The well is named after the first ''zaque'' of Hunza, Hunzahúa. The well was called ''Pozo de Donato'' for a while, after 17th century Jerónimo Donato de Rojas.Hunzahúa Well
- Pueblos Originarios
The well is located on the campus of the Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia in Tunja.

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 • Chivatá • Motavita • Oicatá • Siachoque • Samacá • Sora • Soracá • Sotaquirá • Toca • Tunja • Tuta • Ventaquemada Ventaquemada is a town and municipality in the Central Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. Ventaquemada is located at a distance of from the capital Bogotá and from the departmental capital Tunja. The urban centre is ... References Provinces of Boyacá Department {{Boyacá-geo-stub ...
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Muisca Architecture
This article describes the architecture of the Muisca. The Muisca, inhabiting the central highlands of the Colombian Andes (Altiplano Cundiboyacense and the southwestern part of that the Bogotá savanna), were one of the four great civilizations of the Americas. Unlike the three civilizations in present-day Mexico and Peru (the Aztec, Maya, and the Incas), they did not construct grand architecture of solid materials. While specialising in agriculture and gold-working, cloths and ceramics, their architecture was rather modest and made of non-permanent materials as wood and clay. Evidence for the Muisca architecture relies on archaeological excavations performed since the mid 20th century. In recent years larger areas showing evidence of the Early Muisca architecture have been uncovered, the biggest of them in Soacha, Cundinamarca. All of the original houses and temples have been destroyed by the Spanish conquerors and replaced with colonial architecture. Reconstructions o ...
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Departments Of Colombia
Colombia is a unitary state, unitary republic made up of thirty-two departments (Spanish language, Spanish: ''departamentos'', sing. ''departamento'') and a Capital District (''Capital districts and territories, Distrito Capital''). Each department has a governor (''gobernador'') and an Assembly (''Asamblea Departamental''), elected by popular vote for a four-year period. The governor cannot be re-elected in consecutive periods. Departments are administrative division, country subdivisions and are granted a certain degree of autonomy. Departments are formed by a grouping of municipalities of Colombia, municipalities (''municipios'', sing. ''municipio''). Municipal government is headed by mayor (''alcalde'') and administered by a municipal council (''concejo municipal''), both of which are elected for four-year periods. Some departments have subdivisions above the level of municipalities, commonly known as provinces of Colombia, provinces. Chart of departments Each one of th ...
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Villa De Leyva
Villa de Leyva, also called Villa de Leiva, is a touristic colonial town and municipality, in the Ricaurte Province, part of the Boyacá Department of Colombia. The town is a Colombian National Heritage Town and is on the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Villa de Leyva is located west of the departmental capital Tunja. It is about three hours by car or bus from Bogotá. Located away from major trade routes in a high altitude valley of semi-desert terrain, and with no mineral deposits nearby to exploit, the town has undergone little development in the last 400 years. As a consequence, it is one of the few towns in Colombia to have preserved much of its original colonial style and architecture: the streets and large central plaza are still paved with cobblestones, and many buildings date from the sixteenth century. This has resulted in Villa de Leyva becoming one of Colombia's principal tourist attractions, and it was declared a National Monument on December 17, 19 ...
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