Off the Beaten Track 4 - The Penis Park

Yes you read the title correctly, this is an area of Villa De Leyva known as the Penis Park though it is more properly referred to as an area of paleontological interest called El Infiernito. It is composed of Standing Stones. These stones vary in size and thickness but have one common factor, they are all shaped like an erect male penis. The stones were carved and set up by the Muiscas a precolombian tribe. The stones form a circle with at one end a series of smaller stones laid out in a straight line. The smaller stones are part of an intricate sun clock while the larger shaped stones were part of the Muiscas Fertility/Astronomical festival associated with the Summer Solstace and the rebirth of the land. Hence the male member association. On examining the stones carefully the one thing that really surprised me was that there were no obvious carvings, cuniforms, or symbols on the surfaces. (And this is the only time I will closely examine a 12 foot penis for the record.) In the centre of the circle area was a small tomb where the body of a young child had been interred though it is difficult to know whether this was a burial or a sacrifice.











And I bet this post made my mother blush !