The Moon Temple of Chía was a temple constructed by the

Muisca The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The Muisca spe ...

as a place of worship for their Moon goddess Chía. The temple was built in

Chía, Cundinamarca Chía is a city and municipality in the department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca in Colombia, located 10 km north of Bogotá on the main road to Zipaquira. Due to its proximity to Bogotá, Chía has effectively become a suburb of t ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, then part of the

Muisca Confederation The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', ''iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andes, Andean highlands of what is today Colombia before the Spanish conquest of the Americas, Spanis ...

. It was one of the most important temples in the

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

of the Muisca.Ocampo López, 2007, Ch.V, p.226 The temple was destroyed during the

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

on the

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. (Do not confuse with The Altiplano or the Altiplano Nariñense, both fur ...

. Little is known about the temple built on the Tíquiza Hill in western Chía bordering

Tabio Tabio is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Departments of Colombia, department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca. It is located from Bogotá. The town was officially founded April 8, 1603, by Diego Gómez de Mena, on grounds that w ...

.Muisca Precolombino

Structure and worship

The Temple of the Moon was built on the Tíquiza Hill west of the urban centre of Chía. The Muisca had an advanced knowledge of

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

and constructed various sites across their territories. ''

El Infiernito ''El Infiernito'' ( Spanish for "The Little Hell"), is a pre-Columbian archaeoastronomical site located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the outskirts of Villa de Leyva, Boyacá, Colombia. It is composed of several earthworks surrounding a s ...

'', just outside

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 UNE ...

has survived, while the

Sun Temple A sun temple (or solar temple) is a building used for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, dedicated to the sun or a solar deity. Such temples were built by a number different cultures and are distributed around th ...

Sugamuxi Sugamuxi (died 1539) was the last '' iraca''; ''cacique'' of the sacred City of the Sun Suamox. Sugamuxi, presently called Sogamoso, was an important city in the religion of the Muisca who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the times be ...

has been reconstructed. Just like the Sun Temple, the Moon temple was constructed according to the positions of the respective celestial body.Templo de la Luna in Chía
- Pueblos Originarios At the temple rituals were organised by the ''caciques'' and ''

zipa When the Spain, Spanish arrived in the central Colombian highlands, the region was organized into the Muisca Confederation, which had two rulers; the ''Zipa'' was the ruler of the southern part and based in Funza, Muyquytá. The ''Zaque'' was the ...

s'' of the Muisca Confederation. The ''caciques'' and priests at the Moon Temple wore white robes, different from those at the Sun Temple that were red. The Moon Temple not only formed a place of worship, also education to the new ''caciques'' and

Muisca rulers When the Spanish arrived in the central Colombian highlands, the region was organized into the Muisca Confederation, which had two rulers; the ''Zipa'' was the ruler of the southern part and based in Muyquytá. The ''Zaque'' was the ruler of th ...

was provided near the temple (''Seminario de la Cuca'').Education at the Moon Temple, Chía
/ref>Chía, Ciudad de la Luna
- El Tiempo

Other Moon temples in the world

Pyramid of the Moon The Pyramid of the Moon is the second-largest pyramid in Mesoamerica, after the Pyramid of the Sun, and located in modern-day San Martín de las Pirámides, Mexico. It is found in the western part of the ancient city of Teotihuacan and mimics t ...

- Aztec religion * San Gervasio - Maya religion * Temple of the Moon - Inca religion * Temple of the Moon - China *

Somnath Prabhas Patan, historically named Dev Patan, is a locality in Veraval, Gujarat. As the site of the Somnath temple and its associated Jyotirlinga (an aniconic representation of the god Shiva), it is an important place of Hindu pilgrimage. Pl ...

- Hinduism

References

Bibliography

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External links

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The Muisca of Chía
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moon Temple (Chia) Muisca mythology and religion Chía

Buildings and structures in Cundinamarca Department Temples in Colombia

Structure and worship

Other Moon temples in the world

See also

References

Bibliography

External links