San Agustín Archaeological Park

UNESCO World Heritage Site
San Agustín Archaeological Park
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
Type Cultural
Criteria iii
Reference 744
UNESCO region Latin America and the Caribbean
Inscription history
Inscription 1996 (19th Session)

San Agustín Archaeological Park is an archaeological site in San Agustín, Huila, Colombia. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. The site contains the largest collection of religious monuments and megalithic sculptures in Latin America[1] and is considered the world's largest necropolis.

The archaeological park corresponds to the upper basin of the Magdalena River and its primary tributaries, and relates to several municipalities in Colombia and in the town of San Agustin in Huila in the eastern foothills of the Colombian Massif, from which emerge the three Andean mountain ranges traversing the country from south to north in the Andean Region. San Agustín is 520 km from Bogotá.

The park itself corresponds to a small area with a high concentration of graves.

Description

San Agustín Archaeological Park consists of three properties:

The last two do not belong to the archaeological park of St. Augustine but are independent parks found in the town of San José de Isnos, a few miles from San Augustine.

Upper Idols is 4 km from Isnos. People can walk or horseback from St. Augustine, crossing the Strait of Magdalena River. In Upper Idols, is the tallest statue of St. Augustine is 7 meters.

Upper Stones is 7 km from Isnos. There is the I Double statue. There are also Plank, The Chaquira, Ball and Purutal nearby. From the Chaquira you can see the Strait of Magdalena.

The remains of the ancient cultural groups are scattered over an area of over 50 square kilometers, on plateaus located on either side of the canyon formed by the top of the Magdalena River.

Places within this park:

References

  1. "San Agustín Archaeological Park". UNESCO World Heritage Center. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
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Coordinates: 1°55′00″N 76°14′00″W / 1.9167°N 76.2333°W / 1.9167; -76.2333

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