El Dorado
City of Gold
When you mention gold there's one place that always springs to mind: El Dorado, the lost City of Gold.
What Is El Dorado?
El Dorado is generally considered to be a legend, however there are still some who seek the location of a real city.The first known appearance of the legend of El Droado is from the 16th century. A South American leader liked to display his wealth by covering himself in gold dust. Because of this he became known as El Hombre Dorado - the golden man. The legend spread and grew: the golden king was quickly transformed into the ruler of a kingdom of gold and the hunt for El Dorado began.
The Search
Many individuals and expeditions have attempted to find El Dorado over the centuries. Some have even claimed to have done so. Interestingly, the 1541 expedition of Orellana and Pizarro found no trace of El Dorado but did result in Orellana becoming the first non-native to explore the entire Amazon river.The most famous "discoverer" of El Dorado was probably English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh. In 1594 Raleigh heard the legend of El Dorado and duly set out on a voyage of exploration. When he returned he declared that he had indeed discovered El Dorado, known to the inhabitants as Manoa. Raleigh's tale was published in a book, complete with imaginative illustrations based on his stories.
Unfortunately Raleigh's stories appear to have been just that and future expeditions found no trace of El Dorado where he had claimed.
El Dorado Today
Even though El Dorado is almost certainly a myth, the name lives on today as a symbol for any great treasure and the - usually fruitless - search to discover it. There are a number of towns and cities in the US and beyond named El Dorado or Eldorado.Perhaps most appropriately there are a large number of El Dorado casinos available to the modern adventurer.