Lake Guatavita
| Lake Guatavita | |
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 Lake Guatavita
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| Location | Sesquilé, Cundinamarca |
| Coordinates | 4°58′38″N 73°46′32″W / 4.97722°N 73.77556°WCoordinates: 4°58′38″N 73°46′32″W / 4.97722°N 73.77556°W |
| Primary inflows | Rain |
| Basin countries | Colombia |
| Max. length | 700 metres (2,300 ft) |
| Max. width | 700 metres (2,300 ft) |
| Surface area | 19.8 hectares (49 acres) |
| Max. depth | 125 metres (410 ft) |
| Surface elevation | 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) |
| References | |
Lake Guatavita (Spanish: Laguna de Guatavita or Lago Guatavita) is located in the Cordillera Oriental of the Colombian Andes in the municipality of Sesquilé, in the Almeidas Province, Cundinamarca department of Colombia, 57 kilometres (35 mi) north-east of Bogotá, capital of Colombia.
The lake is circular and has a surface area of 19.8 hectares. The earlier theories of the crater's origin being a meteorite impact, volcanic cinder, or limestone sinkhole are now discredited. The most likely explanation is that it resulted from the dissolution of underground salt deposits from an anticline, resulting in a kind of sinkhole.
There are hot springs nearby in the municipality of Sesquilé, which means "hot water".
While the existence of a sacred lake in the Eastern Ranges of the Andes, associated with Indian rituals involving gold, was known to the Spanish possibly as early as 1531, its location was only discovered in June 1537 by conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada while on an expedition to the highlands of the Eastern Ranges of the Andes in search of gold. This brought the Spanish into first contact with the Muisca inhabiting the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, including around Lake Guatavita.
The lake is now a focus of ecotourism, and its association with the legend of El Dorado is also a major attraction.
The name of the lake is derived from Chibcha, the language of the Muisca: gwa: mountain or gwata, gwate: high elevation, or gwatibita: high mountain peak; hence, a pool at a high mountain peak. Another meaning is "End of the farmfields".
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Wikipedia