The Laguna de Guatavita is located in the Cordillera Oriental of the Colombian

Andes in the town of Sesquilé, in the Cundinamarca department of Colombia, it is

located 57 kilometres north-east of Bogotá

The name of the lake is derived from Chibcha, the language of the Muisca: gwa:
mountain or gwata, gwate: high elevation, or gwatibita: high mountain peak;
hence, a pool at a high mountain peak. Another meaning is "End of the
farmfields".

The lake is circular and has a surface area of 19.8 hectares. The most likely
explanation of how it formed is that it resulted from the dissolution of
underground salt deposits from an anticline,[3] resulting in a kind of sinkhole.

Lake Guatavita was reputedly one of the sacred lakes of the Muisca, and a ritual
conducted there is widely thought to be the basis for the legend of El
Dorado. The legend says the lake is where the Muisca celebrated a ritual in
which the zipa (named "El Dorado" by the conquistadors) was covered in gold
dust, then venturing out into the water on a ceremonial raft made of rushes, he
dived into the waters, washing off the gold. Afterward, trinkets, jewelry, and other
precious offerings were thrown into the waters by worshipers. A few artifacts of
gold and silver found at bottom hold proof to this claim.

While the existence of a sacred lake in the Eastern Ranges of the Andes,
associated with Indian rituals involving gold, was known to the Spaniards
possibly as early as 1531, its location was only discovered in 1537 by
conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada while on an expedition to the
highlands of the Eastern Ranges of the Andes in search of gold.
Conquistadores Lázaro Fonte and Hernán Perez de Quesada attempted
(unsuccessfully) to drain the lake in 1545 using a "bucket chain" of labourers.
After 3 months, the water level had been reduced by 3 metres, and only a small
amount of gold was recovered, with a value of 3000–4000 pesos (approx.
US$100,000 today)
A later more industrious attempt was made in 1580, by Bogotá business
entrepreneur Antonio de Sepúlveda. A notch was cut deep into the rim of the
lake, which managed to reduce the water level by 20 metres, before collapsing
and killing many of the labourers. A share of the findings—consisting of various
golden ornaments, jewellery and armour—was sent to King Philip II of Spain.
Sepúlveda's discovery came to approximately 12,000 pesos.
In 1801, Alexander von Humboldt made a visit to Guatavita, and on his return to
Paris, calculated from the findings of Sepúlveda's efforts that Guatavita could
offer up as much as $300 million worth of gold.[1]
In 1898, the Company for the Exploitation of the lake of Guatavita was formed
and taken over by Contractors Ltd. of London. The lake was drained by a tunnel
that emerged in the centre of the lake. The water was drained to a depth of about
4 feet of mud and slime.[citation needed] This made it impossible to explore, and when
the mud had dried in the sun, it had set like concrete. Artifacts worth only about
£500 were found, and auctioned at Sotheby's of London. Some of these were
donated to the British Museum.
In 1965, the Colombian government designated the lake as a protected area.
Private salvage operations, including attempts to drain the lake, are now illegal
The lake is now a focus of ecotourism, and its association with the legend of El
Dorado is also a major attraction