Guatavita: Where water turns to gold

• Location: 75 km north-east of Bogotá, Department of Cundinamarca
  Climate: Average temperature 14°C
  Altitude: 2680m asl

The local crafts and architecture reflect endless and magical stories, the white-walled houses and clay-tiled roofs are a tribute to Old Guatavita, the village which lies in silence underneath under the waters of the dam.  Like a traveling market, Guatavita was made to move on, to make way for the waters.  The new village was rebuilt street by street, house by house, story by story.

Old Guatavita is not the only story to lie under the waters: not far from the village there is Lake Guatavita, the center of a legend, the scenario of the original El Dorado.  This place guards the stories of gods and gold, which give this place its unique character.