El Dorado
El Dorado, originally
El Hombre Dorado,
El Indio Dorado, or
El Rey Dorado, is the term used by Europeans to describe a tribal chief of the Muisca native people of Colombia, South America, who as an initiation rite, covered himself with gold dust and dove into Lake Guatavita. Later, it became the name of a legendary "Lost City of Gold", also known as Manõa, that fascinated explorers since the days of the Spanish conquistadors and was supposedly located on Lake Parime in the highlands of Guyana, South America. Imagined as a place, El Dorado went from a city to a kingdom and an empire of this legendary golden king. In pursuit of the legend, Spanish conquistadors Francisco Orellana and Gonzalo Pizarro departed from Quito in 1541 in an expedition towards the Amazon Basin, as a result of which Orellana became the first known person to navigate the entire length of the Amazon River.
El Dorado or Eldorado is now the name of numerous places, especially mining towns, in South America, the United States and elsewhere, as well as the name of many films and TV shows, pieces of music, sports teams, and other items.