El Dorado

El Dorado (Spanish for "golden one") is a story from South America. It first referred to a man or a king, El Hombre Dorado ("The Golden Man") or El Rey Dorado ("The Golden King"). Later ,it was used for a city, and in the end, for a whole country. When the Spanish came to South America, they were greedy, and tied to find El Dorado.

Legend

Golden raft of Eldorado, Gold Museum, Bogotá

Accoring to the legend, the new king had to sacrrifice things to the sun god. This happened at Lake Guatavita, a small lake near modern-day Bogotá. At night, fires were lit, and the naked torsos of the noblemen were covered in a paste made of gold dust. With the noblemen, the ruler used a raft to navigate to the middle of the lake. There, they sacrificed the valuables, mafe of gold or precious stones. The king then jumped into the lake, and the gold paste, as well as the other sactifices went down to the bottom of the lake.