El Dorado was not a city of gold: it was a Muisca ritual on an Andean lake. The conquistadors searched for it for centuries and founded Bogotá along the way. Twelve stops from the Gold Museum, with its Muisca raft, by way of the church of San Francisco, the corner where Gaitán was killed, the conquistador's cathedral, the Palace of Justice, the vase of independence, the gold-lined church, the window Bolívar jumped from, Botero's mint, the Chorro de Quevedo, the Quinta de Bolívar and Monserrate hill. Approximate audio duration: 24 minutes.
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Bogotá: el oro, El Dorado y la ciudad que lo buscó
El Dorado no era una ciudad de oro: era un ritual muisca en una laguna de los Andes. Los conquistadores lo buscaron durante siglos y fundaron Bogotá en el camino. Doce paradas desde el Museo del Oro, con su balsa muisca, por la iglesia de San Francisco, la esquina donde mataron a Gaitán, la catedral del conquistador, el Palacio de Justicia, el florero de la independencia, la iglesia forrada de oro, la ventana por la que saltó Bolívar, la casa de moneda de Botero, el Chorro de Quevedo, la Quinta de Bolívar y el cerro de Monserrate. Duración aproximada de audio: 24 minutos.
Tour stops
12 stops · ~24 min of audio · 4.74 km on foot (~1 h 10 min walking) · about 1 h 45 min in total
You are in the Gold Museum of Bogotá. Inside are more than thirty thousand gold pieces made by the peoples who lived in this territory before the Spaniards arrived. It is the largest collection of pre-Hispanic goldwork in the world.
Go up to the last room and look for a small piece, about twenty centimeters long, in a case of its own: a gold raft with a large figure in the center surrounded by smaller ones. It is the Muisca raft. Some farmers found it in a cave in 1969.
That raft shows the origin of the El Dorado legend. The Muisca lived in these mountains. When a new chief took office, they…
2
Where the Gold Ended Up
You are in front of the church of San Francisco. Look at the simple facade of stone and brick, with its tower. From outside it looks modest. Go in.
At the far end, the high altarpiece gleams from top to bottom: carved wood covered in gold leaf, full of saints, columns and leaves. It is the oldest surviving church in Bogotá; it was built between the mid sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
Think of the museum you have just seen. The gold the Muisca offered to their gods in the lakes ended up, in part, covering the altars of the conquistadors' god. It changed gods, but it was still an of…
3
The Ninth of April
You are on Carrera Séptima, by the corner with Avenida Jiménez. Look on the building's facade for a plaque remembering Jorge Eliécer Gaitán. He was killed here.
Gaitán was the most popular politician in Colombia in the 1940s. A lawyer, a brilliant speaker, leader of the left wing of the Liberal Party, he spoke out against the oligarchy and filled squares. He was the favorite to win the presidency in 1950.
On 9 April 1948, at one in the afternoon, he left his office in this building. A man shot him several times. Gaitán died shortly afterwards in a clinic. The crowd seized the killer, a young…
4
The Conquistador Who Sought El Dorado
You are in front of the Primatial Cathedral of Colombia, on the east side of the Plaza de Bolívar. Look at the pale stone neoclassical facade with its two towers. The current building dates from the early nineteenth century, but there has been a church on this spot since the city was founded.
Inside, in a chapel, lie the remains of Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, the conquistador who founded Bogotá.
Quesada was an Andalusian lawyer. In 1536 he set out from Santa Marta, on the Caribbean coast, with some eight hundred men, to go up the Magdalena River in search of the source of salt and gold. Almo…
5
The Twenty-Eight Hours
You are in the Plaza de Bolívar, in front of the Palace of Justice. Look at the stone building with its sober facade, and in the center of the square the statue of Simón Bolívar surrounded by pigeons. Around it stand the Capitol, the Cathedral and City Hall: all of Colombia's powers in a single square.
The building you see is new. The previous one was destroyed in one of the most tragic episodes in the country's history.
On 6 November 1985 an armed commando of the M-19 guerrilla group entered the Palace of Justice and took hundreds of people hostage, among them the judges of the Supreme Cour…
6
A Borrowed Vase
You are in front of the Casa del Florero, on the corner of the Plaza de Bolívar. Look at the white colonial house with its wooden balcony. Today it is the Museum of Independence, and inside a broken porcelain vase is kept.
In 1810 Bogotá was the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Granada. The Creoles, children of Spaniards born in the Americas, were tired of peninsular Spaniards holding all the important posts. In Spain, Napoleon had taken the king prisoner. The moment had come.
On 20 July 1810, a Friday market day with the square full, a group of Creoles went to the shop of a Spanish merchan…
7
The Nuns Behind the Grille
You are in front of the church of Santa Clara. From outside it is a plain colonial church with white walls. Go in: it is like stepping inside a jewel box.
The walls and the vault are covered almost entirely in gold, carvings and more than a hundred paintings and sculptures. It was built in the seventeenth century for a convent of cloistered Poor Clare nuns. Today it is a museum.
Look up toward the back: there is a choir closed off with wooden grilles. From there the nuns followed Mass without being seen by the congregation. They entered the convent young, sometimes as girls, and never left a…
8
The Liberator of the Liberator
You are in front of the Palacio de San Carlos, today the seat of Colombia's Foreign Ministry. Look at the colonial facade with its balconies and look, next to one of the windows, for a plaque with a Latin inscription.
This palace was the residence of Simón Bolívar when he was president of Gran Colombia, the great country he had created by joining what are today Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama.
In 1828 Bolívar was ruling with almost dictatorial powers, and he had many enemies. On the night of 25 September a group of conspirators entered this palace to kill him. They killed the guards …
9
From Gold to Coin
You are in front of the Casa de Moneda, the Mint, on Calle Once. Look at the stone gateway and, inside, the colonial courtyards with arches and fountains. This complex also includes the Botero Museum.
Here the journey of gold is completed. At the start of the seventeenth century, in 1621, one of the first mints in the Americas to strike gold coins was established in Santa Fe. The current building dates from the eighteenth century.
Think of it like this: gold from the mines and from ancient sacred objects was melted down, weighed and turned into coins bearing the arms of the King of Spain. Wh…
10
The Forbidden Chicha
You are at the Chorro de Quevedo, a little square at the top of La Candelaria. Look at the small white chapel, the fountain, the graffiti, the students sitting on the ground, and the alley that narrows as it leaves, the Calle del Embudo, the funnel street, full of chicha stalls.
Tradition says that Quesada founded the city on this spot in 1538, around a spring the Muisca already used. Historians dispute it, but Bogotá's people keep repeating it.
Try the chicha if you dare: it is a fermented maize drink, thick and slightly sour. The Muisca drank it in their ceremonies long before the Spaniard…
11
Plowing the Sea
You are at the Quinta de Bolívar. Look at the single-story white colonial house, the gardens with tall trees and fountains, and behind, very close, the green mountain of Monserrate.
The government gave this country house to Simón Bolívar in 1820, in gratitude for independence. He lived here for periods when he was in Bogotá. It is the most intimate place left of the Liberator.
Walk through the rooms: the furniture, the bed, the dining room, the personal objects. Bolívar was a small, thin, restless man. He had been born into one of the richest families in Caracas and spent his fortune on the …
12
The Lake No One Could Drain
You are at the top of Monserrate, more than three thousand one hundred meters up. Look down: all of Bogotá spreads across the plateau, millions of people, until it disappears into the haze. Behind you is the white sanctuary with the image of the Fallen Lord, to which thousands of pilgrims climb on foot.
Now look north and northeast, toward the distant mountains. Some fifty kilometers away, among those hills, lies Lake Guatavita. It is small, round and green, at the bottom of a crater. That is where the ritual of El Dorado was performed.
The Spaniards tried to drain it to get the gold from th…
How long does the "Bogotá: Gold, El Dorado and the City That Sought It" audio tour take?
It has about 24 minutes of audio across 12 stops and a 4.74 km walking route (~1 h 10 min on foot). Plan roughly 1 h 45 min in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "The Golden Man" (coordinates 4.6019, -74.0719). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Bogotá and pick "Bogotá: Gold, El Dorado and the City That Sought It". No account required to start.
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