Hunzahúa Well

Hunzahúa Well

Hunzahúa, after whom the Well was named
Location within Colombia
Location	Tunja, Boyacá
Region	Altiplano Cundiboyacense,  Colombia
Coordinates	5°33′13.92″N 73°21′22.44″W / 5.5538667°N 73.3562333°W / 5.5538667; -73.3562333Coordinates: 5°33′13.92″N 73°21′22.44″W / 5.5538667°N 73.3562333°W / 5.5538667; -73.3562333
Altitude	2,715 m (8,907 ft)
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

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. The well is located on the terrain of the Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia in Tunja. Scholar Javier Ocampo López has written about the Well and its mythology. Knowledge about the well has been provided by scholar Pedro Simón.

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.

Hunzahúa, the first zaque of Hunza, fell in love with his sister, called Noncetá. Because of the illegality of incest in the Muisca traditions, Hunzahúa fled with his sister to Chipatá 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 the chicha over the ground, forming the Hunzahúa Well.