Where is the Museum of Gold, in which all the exhibits are made of precious metal

Fortunately, the Spaniards were not able to melt all the gold of the Indians into bullion and export it to Europe. Many gold jewelry, ritual objects, and gemstones were hidden in caches or taken to remote, inaccessible corners in the jungle. Here are just such unique items that were made more than 500 years ago in pre-Columbian America, and can be seen in one of the most interesting museums in the world - the Gold Museum in Bogota, the capital of Colombia.

The museum’s modern collection is based on gold items that were collected by the Restrepo brothers, Colombian enthusiasts, who devoted much time to saving the remaining treasures of the ancient Indians. Priceless finds were often sent to private foreign collections abroad, or with the easy hands of unscrupulous archaeologists found themselves on the black market. And only through the efforts of people who are not indifferent to the heritage of Colombia, it was possible to preserve the works of art of the Indians for posterity. Any museum collection is of the greatest cultural and material value, but if it is a collection of ancient gold products, then it needs a very special status. For this reason, the Gold Museum in Bogota, founded in the 30s of the last century, belongs to the Bank of Colombia.

Part of the museum’s collection consists of gold items that were found in the vicinity of Lake Guatavita. According to historians, this lake played the role of a cult object, a kind of place in which ritual sacrifices were performed. Gold items were thrown into the lake by priests, and when the Europeans found out about this, they made several attempts to raise the sunken gold. They tried to drain the lake several times, but when it was almost possible, it turned out that the viscous soil does not allow any large-scale prospecting.

Perhaps the most famous exhibit of this museum is the composition "Golden Raft", whose age is more than 3 thousand years. Ancient Indians began to mine gold long before the Inca civilization appeared, therefore, exhibits that are several thousand years old are presented in the museum's expositions. But the gold in the understanding of the Indians did not have such value as for the Europeans, who for the sake of owning it were ready for any crime. The Indians perceived gold only as the embodiment of the divine energy of the Sun, they made jewelry, various household items and a cult from it, but did not consider it the greatest value in the world.

Today, part of the works of the ancient inhabitants of America can be seen by any traveler who finds himself in the capital of Colombia. To do this, you just need to choose the time and buy a ticket to the amazing museum, where all the exhibits are made of gold.