El Dorado is a legendary city, supposedly located in the territory of the former Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada, in an area where gold mines were believed to be abundant. The legend originates in the 16th century, in Colombia, when the Spanish conquistadors have news of a ceremony held farther north, where a king covered his body with gold dust and made offerings in a sacred lagoon. Today it is known that this town was the Muisca and the place where the ceremony was held The Guatavita lagoon was the news of the Muisca wealth, it attracted expeditions from Quito, Santa Marta and Coro to the savannah of Bogotá.
The supposed existence of a golden kingdom motivated numerous expeditions and remained in force until the 20th century. XIX, although its location was transferred from Colombia to the Guianas, as the process of conquest and colonization of the South American territory progressed.