Siecha Lakes

The Chingaza Natural National Park in Cundinamarca, Colombia, is home to the three glacial lakes known as the Siecha Lakes. Before the Muisca were conquered by the Spanish in the 1530s, they lived in the area and practiced a religion that revered the Andean lakes.

To remove the Muisca artifacts made of gold from the water, the lakes were partially drained during the colonial era. A golden raft like the renowned Muisca raft was discovered in one of the lakes in 1855. The Muisca scholar Liborio Zerda depicted it in his book El Dorado in 1883 under the title Balsa de Siecha, or "Siecha raft." The finding of the raft led Zerda to conclude that the Siecha Lakes, rather than Lake Guatavita, was the location of the new zipa's initiation process. Later, the raft was transported from Colombia to Europe largely lawfully. The raft was lost when the transport ship caught fire in Bremen's harbor.

The Siecha Lakes, one of the lakes connected to the tale of El Dorado, was revered by the ancient Muisca, just like Lake Guatavita. The Muisca custom of tossing gold into the water gave rise to the myth that in the past led numerous Spaniards to search for treasures in the lakes.

Location: Guasca, Cundinamarca, Colombia