El Dorado

The legend of El Dorado - the lost city of gold - appears to have begun in the 16th century. Although the story is today usually considered a myth the name has continued to be used as a reference to any sought after place of great wealth.

What Is El Dorado?

The original legend appears to have begun around 1530-1540 as the story of El Hombre Dorado - the golden man or gilded man. This referred to a South American chieftan or king who was immensely wealthy and covered himself in gold dust. The reasons for such a royal affectation are unclear - possibly it was for symbolic, religious reasons (the rituals of the Muisca have been suggested) or possibly it was just "because he could". No-one seems to have enquired too deeply into the details of the legend at the time. Instead the idea of a "Golden King" led naturally to the idea of a Golden Kingdom and a city or even country where gold was abundant. This kingdom was allegedly known to the natives as Manoa or Omoa.

Over the years a number of expeditions attempted to discover El Dorado and the myth probably motivated a lot of the invasions of the native cities by greedy Europeans. The distinction between "explorers", "invaders" and "looters" was far from obvious.

Where Is El Dorado?

One of the remarkable features of El Dorado is that despite being a legendary, lost city it has been "found" a number of times. One of those who allegedly discovered its secret was Antionio de Berrio who declared Manoa to be near the source of the Caroni river.

The most famous seeker after El Dorado was Sir Walter Raleigh. His expedition began in 1595 and on his return he reported having discovered the legendary city. According to Raleigh, Manoa was situated on an island in Lake Parima, which was then in Guiana. Raleigh's account was taken up by Theodor De Bry in his Grand Voyages where the tale was elaborated on and accompanied by illustrations of the golden city. Unfortunately later expeditions found no trace of El Dorado where Raleigh had indicated.

So the original story apears to be nothing more than legend flamed by hope and greed. But the name lives on and there are many places today named El Dorado or Eldorado, including over a dozen in the US alone! The association with riches has also led to a number of casinos of the same name.

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