Yawarkucha or Yawar Kucha (

Kichwa Kichwa (, , also Spanish ) is a Quechuan language that includes all Quechua varieties of Ecuador and Colombia ('' Inga''), as well as extensions into Peru. It has an estimated half million speakers. Classification Kichwa belongs to the Nor ...

''yawar'' blood, ''kucha'' lake, "blood lake"), Hispanicized spellings ''Yaguarcocha, Yahuarcocha'') is a lake in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

located in the eastern outskirts of the city of Ibarra in

Imbabura Province Imbabura () is a Provinces of Ecuador, province located in the Andes of northern Ecuador. The capital is Ibarra, Ecuador, Ibarra. The people of the province speak Spanish, and a large portion of the population also speak the Imbaburan Kichwa va ...

Ibarra Canton Ibarra Canton is a canton of Ecuador, located in Imbabura Province. Its capital is the town of Ibarra. Its population in the 2001 census was 153,256 and 181,175 in the 2010 census. The area of the canton is . Ibarra is located in the Andes reg ...

. The lake is about long and wide and has an elevation of above sea level. The lake was formed from glacial meltwater about 10,000 BCE. The scenic lake is a popular tourist attraction. Yawarkucha acquired its name as a result of a battle and massacre which allegedly took place here during the conquest of the area by the

Inca Empire The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

in the late 15th or early 16th century. The local

chiefdom A chiefdom is a political organization of people representation (politics), represented or government, governed by a tribal chief, chief. Chiefdoms have been discussed, depending on their scope, as a stateless society, stateless, state (polity) ...

called the Caranqui fiercely resisted the Inca invasion of their territory. The Inca Emperor,

Huayna Capac Huayna Capac (; Cuzco Quechua: ''Wayna Qhapaq'' ) (before 14931527) was the third Sapa Inca of Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire. He was the son of and successor to Túpac Inca Yupanqui,Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro; 2015, originally published in Sp ...

(ruled c. 1493–1525) finally achieved victory near the present-day city of Ibarra. According to

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

chronicler

Miguel Cabello de Balboa Miguel Cabello de Balboa (c. 1535 — 1608) was a Spanish secular priest and writer. Early years Miguel Cabello de Balboa was a great-nephew of Captain Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the first European to have lead an expedition to encounter the Pac ...

, Huayna Capac ordered the massacre of the male population of Caranqui in retribution for its resistance. The massacre of thousands of men took place on the shores of a lake, known thereafter as Yawarkucha or "Blood Lake."Bray, Tamara L. and Echeverría Almeida, José (2014), "The Late Imperial Site of Inca-Caranqui, Northern highland Ecuador at the End of Empire", ''Nampo Pacha, journal of Andean Archaeology'', Vol. 34, No. 2, p. 179-181

References

External links

Lakes of Ecuador Geography of Imbabura Province {{Ecuador-stub

See also

References

External links