El Dorado

Rare card · No. 22055

El Dorado (Spanish: [el doˈɾaðo]) is a mythical city of gold supposedly located somewhere in South America. The legend originated in 16th-century Spanish accounts of a ruler known as El Dorado, or the Golden One, who was said to cover himself in gold dust before washing it off in a sacred lake. Over time, the name came to refer not only to the ruler, but also to a lost city or kingdom of immense wealth. The legend is associated with the Muisca, an indigenous people who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in present-day Colombia. Later accounts linked the story to the installation ceremony of a new zipa, involving offerings of gold and other valuables at Lake Guatavita. The Muisca were skilled goldsmiths, and Spanish expeditions under Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada reached and conquered their territory in 1537. Later attempts were made to drain Lake Guatavita in search of treasure, and objects associated with the El Dorado tradition, including the Muisca raft, are now held by the Museo del...

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