Exploration of the Lost City - Part 1of 2

Photo 1: The terrace system of the Tayronas.

Great treasures found

Ciudad Perdida means "lost city". The fabulous gold found there by the Spanish in 1502 generated the legend of El Dorado. Since then treasure hunters have searched the area for more gold and new lost cities.

The UNESCO has declared the Sierra Nevada De Santa Marta as a Biosphere Reserve. It is an isolated mountain apart from the Andes chain that runs through Colombia. Its reach an altitude of 5,775 meters above sea level and is located just 42 kilometres from the Caribbean coast.

The Sierra Nevada is the world's highest coastal peak. The region encompasses about 17,000 square kilometres and serves as the source of 36 rivers.

The photos showed in this article are about the Urban Plan defined as The Central Axis of Ciudad Perdida. This is the Terrace System of the Tayronas. There where terraces for cultivation and some for dwelling that served as the foundation for huts, and others that were used as the community meeting places.

Photo 2: Stone with map of the Lost City.

In the middle of picture 2 there is a stone with the map of The Lost City. At the bottom, is the Sector Capilla, called Casa Maria, where they celebrated their ceremonies.

In this house the Indians joined together, but women are not allowed enter there. Today the chiefs of the Mamos join together in a Casa Maria (a hut). The Mamos are Indians from the Coguis Culture. They argue to be descendants of the Tayronas.

Photo 3: In the middle of the photo is the Chief of the Mamo, the Indian chief or leader.

Photo 4: An Indian hut in the Lost City.

When the night comes women and men don't sleep together. They sleep in different huts. See also the hut on picture 5 (our article - part 2).

The rise and fall of an unique culture

In accordance to a case study titled Fundación Pró-Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta by Juan Mayr Maldonada, Colombia, published on a web site (se the link below), humans have lived in this region for thousands of years. The first inhabitants subsisted on fishing and collecting molluscs in the swamps near the Sierra Nevada. With the coming of agriculture and pottery making, the area's inhabitants began to look for other ways of making a living.

At the onset of the Christian era, a heavily concentrated human population lived in the lower parts of the Sierra as well as in some of the valley and river areas, developing an understanding of the ecosystems and an adaptation to the ecological process of the mountain. Gradually through the centuries, these people built one of the region's most advanced cultures, based on their harmonious use of the fragile and varied ecosystems that the mountains offered.

When the Spaniards arrived in 1502, they found a Sierra that was totally inhabited by native cultures, including the Tairona who had reached an advanced level of development in the steep mountains. The Tairona used a vertical system of terraces, drainage systems, and stone slab paths to control rainwater and avoid soil erosion throughout the varied ecosystems and climates of the Sierra.

In accordance to archaeological studies, it is estimated that approximately 700,000 inhabitants lived in the area when the Spaniards arrived. After being abundant in the end of the 1600-century, the Lost City was re-discovered in the 1970s by treasure hunting grave robbers (known locally as quaqueros).

This article continues!

Read more about the Lost City in our part 2-article:

• See more photos of the Lost City!
• The situation today
• How to get there?

Stein Morten Lund, 25th August 2000

Additional informations and links

Travel Explorations thanks Carmen Rodriguez Longaray in Colombia for useful background information.

Read more about The Lost City in the dense and vigorous jungle on the following links:

General information about The Lost City - Ciudad Perdida (Colombia): fdvdf

www.colombiaweb.de

Case study (Juan Mayr) about The Lost City and the region Sierra Nevada De Santa Marta:

www.aaas.org/international/psd/biod/maldon.htm