El Dorado

El Dorado is a mythical city of gold supposedly located somewhere in South America. The king of this city was said to be so rich that he would cover himself from head to foot in gold dust – either daily or on certain ceremonial occasions – before diving into a sacred lake to wash it off. The legend was first recorded in the 16th century by Spanish colonists in the Americas; they referred to the king as el Dorado, the Golden One, a name which eventually came to be applied to the city itself.