Despite popular belief, El Dorado was not a legendary city of gold in South America, but a person. El Dorado was a tribal chief of the indigenous Muisca people, and the initiation rites to becoming chief included offering immense amounts of gold to their gods by throwing it into a holy lake, Lake Guatavita. The Conquistadores eventually found the lake and reclaimed the gold, meaning that every expedition which has set out to find the city of gold afterwards has been in vain, because the mythical riches of El Dorado have actually already been found.