Guatavita Lagoon

The Guatavita Lagoon is located in the eastern range of the Colombian Andes, in the municipality of Sesquilé, north of the municipal capital of Guatavita, about 75 km northeast of Bogotá, in the Almeidas province of Cundinamarca. To reach it, one takes the North Highway, via Zipaquirá to Sesquilé. The lagoon sits at an altitude of 3,100 meters above sea level, with a temperature ranging from 5 to 11°C. It is a mountainous depression of perfectly circular shape, about 700 meters in diameter, surrounded by native encenillo forests. In the Eastern Cordillera, larger páramo lakes commonly occupy ancient glacial cirques; however, it is believed that the Guatavita lagoon’s depression was formed by the collapse caused by the dissolution of saline layers. This aligns with the geological characteristics of the region, where there are large salt deposits such as those in Zipaquirá, Nemocón, and Tausa.

The lagoon was one of the most sacred sites for the Muisca people, as it was the location for the ritual of investiture of the new Zipa (chief). According to legend, he would go out on a raft made of reeds, richly decorated; his body was entirely covered in gold dust; at his feet lay a large pile of gold and emeralds to offer to the gods, and lit braziers burned a kind of incense called moque. The new dignitary was accompanied by four other chiefs, and when the raft reached the center of the lagoon, the people on the shores would throw objects of gold and precious stones into the water.

This is one of the origins of the legend of El Dorado. The famous Muisca Raft exhibited in the Gold Museum is evidence that such rituals were carried out in the region’s lakes.

There were several attempts to drain the lagoon in search of its hidden treasures, the most notable being those by Captain Lázaro Fonte, who managed to extract several pieces of fine gold, and by Antonio de Sepúlveda in the 16th century, who also recovered emeralds and ceramic artifacts.