What was El Dorado?

In the late 1400s, legend spread of a place called El Dorado, the Golden One. The story said you could find heaps of gold if you found El Dorado. The chase for gold was on.

Adventurers set out from Spain to search for El Dorado. In their quest for gold and riches, they captured lands in South America. They also overpowered the people of South America. The great civilizations of the Inca, Aztecs, and others never recovered. Although the Spanish never found El Dorado, they did find land, wealth, and power in their search.

Scientists think there actually was an El Dorado, but it was a person and not a place. High in a region that is now Colombia, the Muisca people had a ritual to honour their ruler. They would cover him in a sticky substance and then coat his body with gold dust. The ruler would then dive into Lake Guatavita and wash off the gold as an offering to the gods. Maybe this ancient ruler was the legendary El Dorado.