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El Dorado (Spanish: [el doˈɾaðo], English: /ˌɛl dəˈrɑːdoʊ/) is a mythical city of gold supposedly located somewhere in South America. The king of this city was said to be so rich that he would cover himself from head to foot in gold dust – either daily or on certain ceremonial occasions – before diving into a sacred lake to wash it off. The legend was first recorded in the 16th century by Spanish colonists in America; they referred to the king as El Dorado, 'the golden one', a name which eventually came to be applied to the city itself.
It is unknown whether this story had any basis in fact, but it may have been inspired by the culture of the Muisca, an Indigenous people inhabiting a plateau in the Andean mountains in modern-day Colombia. The Muisca were skilled goldsmiths; they made frequent use of golden objects in their religious ceremonies, and also manufactured ornaments and jewellery for trade with the neighbouring tribes. Early European settlers, searching for the source of the gold they found among the lowland peoples, made several attempts to reach the plateau. The first to succeed was Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada in 1537. Quesada and his men conquered the territory of the Muisca in the name of Spain, and looted large quantities of gold from their palaces and temples.
It was shortly after this that the legend of El Dorado began to spread among the European colonists. In the decades that followed, the city was sought for in various places across the continent. Antonio de Berrio, Quesada's heir, believed that El Dorado lay within the Guianas, and tried on three occasions to forge a path into the uncharted highlands. Before he could make a third attempt, he was taken captive by Walter Raleigh, who then launched his own expedition into the Guianas.
Raleigh likewise failed to reach his goal, but a later survey by his lieutenant, Lawrence Kemys, brought back some local information regarding a great lake called Lake Parime that supposedly lay somewhere further inland. This lake, considered a prime candidate for the location of the golden city, became the object of further searches, and was included in maps throughout the 17th century. Over time, as the area became better charted, the existence of the lake was thrown into doubt. In the early 19th century, Alexander von Humboldt conclusively declared Lake Parime to be a myth, bringing an end to the popular belief in El Dorado.
Nevertheless, the subject has had a lasting cultural impact. The mystery surrounding the lost city, and the supposed wealth of its inhabitants, have influenced creative media since the time of Voltaire, who included a trip to El Dorado in his 18th-century satire Candide. More recently, the search for El Dorado has furnished plotlines for films and video games such as Outer Banks, The Road to El Dorado, and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, and has provided a motif for numerous musical artists, including Aterciopelados and Shakira.