According to legend, in El Dorado there are tons of precious stones and gold. Through the centuries many expeditions took place to the discovery of this spot; among the first explorers there was Ponce de Léon from Spain, who was followed by Hernàn Cortez and Francisco Pizarro in 1513. When they conquered the empires of the Aztecs and Incas, they thought to be in El Dorado, but their desire for power pushed them to keep on with the research.
The first half of 1500 was full of exploratory expeditions, but the turning point started with Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada and Sebastian de Belalcazar. The latter heard of an indigenous leader who used to dive into waters covered in a golden dust donating this precious metal in the depths. Since then, this place was called “El indio dorado” and later shortened to “El Dorado”.
Many parts of the place were explored, both land and sea. In 2001 the archeologist Mario Polia found some letters written by a missionary, which are kept today in the Vatican City and dated 1600. They talk about a prosperous town near Cuzco in the Peruvian woods.
Many archeologists and experts keep on working on this, hoping to find other findings and make the dream come true.
