The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, the leader of conquest expedition from Santa Marta to the Muisca territories
The rock shelters of El Abra have provided the oldest evidence of inhabitation; lithic tools, charcoal and pictographs
The famous Muisca raft, representing the initiation ritual of the new zipa formed the basis of the legend of El Dorado, the main motive for the Spanish conquistadors to go on a decades long quest for the "Land of Gold"
The fourth voyage of Christopher Columbus (1502–03) touched the Panamanian part of later Gran Colombia, the country named after him, although he never saw the present territories of the Colombian republic
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
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Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the
Spanish conquest of the Muisca
…in search of El Dorado and the civilisation that produced all this precious gold. The leader of the first and main expedition under Spanish flag was Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, with his brother Hernán second in command. Several other soldiers were participating in the journey, who would later become encomenderos and take part…
Tomb in Primate Cathedral of Bogotá
Statue
Coat of arms