Legend of El Dorado

El Dorado was considered by the Spanish conquerors as a legendary city, but for the Muisca culture El Dorado was the head of society, the man of gold.

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The origin of the legend is related to an indigenous celebration in which the Chief (Cacique) of the Muisca culture used to cover his body with gold dust and made offerings to their gods in a sacred lagoon called Guatavita.  This lagoon is located on the top of a mountain, about  71 kilometers northeast from Bogota, capital of Colombia.

When the European conquerors arrived in the Muisca´s land in the 16th Century and heard about this richness of gold, they immediately wanted to take it to their countries and sell it. As soon as the Muisca Chief found out about this, he drowned in the sacred Lagoon of Guatavita with those gold objects. This way, no Muisca tribe member would be defeated by any European conqueror. Despite many attempts, it was never possible to remove the gold objects from the bottom of the lagoon.

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I got inspired in the development of my project, because when I was a child, I travelled to Guatavita lagoon with my parents quite often, and also, we invited foreign friends who visited us in Colombia to go there. I like a lot this lagoon because you can feel a calm atmosphere, surrounded by the nature, history and a spiritual energy.