Santa Cruz de Coya was a city established by the

governor of Chile The Royal Governor of Chile ruled over the Spanish colonial administrative district called the Captaincy General of Chile, and as a result the Royal Governor also held the title of a Captain General. There were 66 such governors or captains du ...

Martín García Oñez de Loyola Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

on the site of the fort of

Santa Cruz de Oñez Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...

, in 1595. It was named for his wife Beatriz Clara Coya, a member of the royal Incan house. The Mapuche called the city Millacoya, meaning gold princess from the

mapudungun Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...

''milla'', gold and the

quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

''coya'', princess. The city was near the confluence of the Bio-Bio and Laja Rivers on the right bank of the upper reach of the Rele River in

Catiray Catirai or Catiray is the region of the Moluche Aillarehue of Catiray in old Araucanía. It is now the Santa Juana commune of the Concepción Province and the Nacimiento commune of the Bío Bío Province of the Bío Bío Region, of Chile. It ...

, ten kilometers south of the Bio Bio. The site was in an elevated location but with a shortage of water. Gold mines were located across the Rele on a stream called Millapoa. It had a population that supported three churches but it did not flourish. It was abandoned soon after the

Disaster of Curalaba The Battle of Curalaba ( es, Batalla de Curalaba, links=no ) is a 1598 battle and ambush where Mapuche people led by Pelantaru soundly defeated Spanish conquerors led by Martín García Óñez de Loyola at Curalaba, southern Chile. In Chilean ...

and was destroyed by

Pelantaro Pelantaro or Pelantarú (; from arn, pelontraru, lit=Shining Caracara) was one of the vice toquis of Paillamachu, the ''toqui'' or military leader of the Mapuche people during the Mapuche uprising in 1598. Pelantaro and his lieutenants Angana ...

in February 1599. Governor

Alonso de Ribera Alonso de Ribera y Zambrano (; 1560 – March 9, 1617) was a Spanish soldier and twice Spanish royal governor of Chile (1601–1605 and 1612–1617). Early life Born in Úbeda, he was the illegitimate son of Hidalgo and Captain Jorge de Ribera Za ...

attempted to rebuild it in a better site in 1601 closer to the Bio Bio and the forts of

San Rosendo San Rosendo () is a Chilean city and commune in Bío Bío Province, Bío Bío Region. The city of San Rosendo lies on the gentle slopes of a hill overlooking the confluence of the rivers Bío Bío and Laja, which respectively bound the city ...

Chivicura Chivicura was a fort erected in 1593 by the Royal Governor of Chile, Martín García Oñez de Loyola on the south bank of the Biobío River, to the west of the confluence of the Rele River with the Bio Bio, in what is now the commune of Santa Ju ...

and

Jesus de Huenuraquí Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. However it was soon abandoned and a new town of Monterrey de la Frontera was founded by Ribera to the east at the mouth of the Rele in 1605.

References

* ''Atlas de Historia de Chile'', Editorial Universitaria, pg. 48.
Francisco Solano Asta-Buruaga y Cienfuegos, Diccionario geográfico de la República de Chile, SEGUNDA EDICIÓN CORREGIDA Y AUMENTADA, NUEVA YORK, D. APPLETON Y COMPAÑÍA. 1899. Pg. 190 Coya
{{Biobío-geo-stub Geography of Biobío Region Populated places established in 1595 1595 establishments in the Spanish Empire Former cities in Chile Destroyed cities