40 years since Legendary Ciudad Perdida( Lost City) was reported to be found in Colombia

The Peace of God to all that belong to the Light,
Dear Readers,

In 1976 the Colombian Archaelogists Gilberto Cadavid and Rosa Fernanda Herrera reported first time to the western world the existence of a citadel next to the Buritaca River, that once was inhabited by 8000 people, probably around the year 700 A.D, in the middle of the Sierra Nevada of Sta Marta, in the center of a region with about 250 villages built by the Tayrona Civilization.

Please check:
uncorneredmarket.com...

The Place was known since centuries as Teyuna by the Kogui, Arhuaco and Wiwa aborigines, micro nations that speak a Chibcha Language. Today the place is worldwide known as Ciudad Perdida, the Lost city, since it is surrounded by jungle, one of the marvels of the prehispanic world, since it reveals the existence of a civilization that in many aspects is able to compete with Mexican and Peruvians ones.

Please check:

www.youtube.com...

Ciudad Perdida is the most important site among the Prehispanic monumental architecture of Colombia and of all the South American shore of the Caribbean sea, it is the most important archaeological site of all the region located in between the Maya region of Mesoamerica and the Inca one of the Andes.

Please check:
es.wikipedia.org...

Sierra Nevada de Sta Marta represents the highest Mountains Chain next to any sea in the world, with peaks that reach almost 6 kilometers tall, like Bolivar and Colon ( Columbus) that are the highest points of Colombia. As a consequence of the Altitude the Sierra comprise dozens of different ecosystems, from the shores of the warm Caribbean sea to the snowy Glaciers.

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Colombia was already considered an important archaeological zone before this discovery, the country has the most outstanding collection of Gold Prehispanic objects ever of all the Americas, more than 38000 that are exhibited in the Gold Museum of the Central Bank of Colombia ( Banco de la republica.

Please check:
www.banrepcultural.org...

Besides that also in Colombia are located at least three other major archaeological findings, the irrigation artificial canals built by the Zenu Civlization in the Caribbean too, the impressive gallery of artificial tunnels built in the region of Tierradentro, that consitute a major pantheon of cemeteries as large as the valley of the kings in Egypt and finally their own unique best sculptures complex of Southamerica in Huila Region, a combination of Stonehenge with the Eater island statues located close to the town of San Agustin.

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The finding of Ciudad Perdida, the Lost city of the Caribbean, was received enthusiastically by the international Archaeological community that considered it the most important occurred at the end of the XX century, a city built 700 to 800 years before Machu Pichu in Peru.

Please check:
www.theguardian.com...

Ciudad Perdida was the capital of a precolumbian kingdom extended along the entire Sierra Nevada that comprise villages, interconnected through a web of pathways and long stairs that climb hundreds of mountains altogether all built with volcanic stones.

The Tayrona people constructed in a style of stones terraces that required really complex retaining walls to be able to transform extremely sloped mountains in flat surfaces over which houses of bamboo wood with palm roofs can be located. The quality of the work is superb since it has never collapsed along centuries of the so strong raining seasons, including tropical storms and hurricanes, of the most humid area of the Americas.

Thanks for your attention,

The Angel of Lightness

The Sierra Nevada area is by far the coolest place that Ive visited in Colombia. It's still not so safe...But I plan on moving to the area some day...

Anyone plannig on travelling to Colombia...The Lost City trek is a required tour..

eta: I heard that only a fraction of the city is open to the public. There is an army outpost at the top of ciudad perdida as FARC still operates in the region, but I imagine they are there to keep the public away from further exploration of the city..

a reply to: Tucket

Dear Trucket,

As far as I know the Lost city of Colombia is located in one of the most patrolled regions of the country by the Army, there is no way at all that visitors can enter in the site without previously checked by Colombian soldiers.

Whoever told you that is pulling your leg, that is a tale for Indiana Jones movies threads, not for serious archaeology forums.

Please check:

trekity.com...

I don't know what are your sources, but I think you are probably reading in the wrong ones, there is a lot of political propaganda of Farc spread in European media, and many journalists help them to project a sensationalist image of their achievements that is far to be real.

Please check:

laciudadperdida.com...

People as important as the members of the Royal family of Spain have visited the place, so that gives you an idea if really it is believable guerrilla bandits are controlled the place. Farc may control the some regions of the jungle of the Amazon basin or in the Choco isthmus, but international Unesco sites are not in their reach.

Please check:

www.eltiempo.com...

Now, a trip to Colombia must include the Gold Museum of Bogota, that is located in one of the safest areas of the city and that is absolutely professionally managed. The museum was arranged by Paul Rivet, who exiled in Colombia during the World War II difficult times for France.

Here some interesting pictures of the mesmerizing collection of prehispanic gold objects you can see there, including extraordinary pieces of the Tayrona civlization, the builders of Ciudad Perdida.

Please check:

www.pinterest.com...

Thanks,

The Angel of Lightness

a reply to: The angel of light


Some of the views in the video reminded me the "Cloud People" or "The Warriors of the Clouds". from Peru, AKA the Chachapoyas Culture.

originally posted by: The angel of light
a reply to: Tucket

Dear Trucket,

As far as I know the Lost city of Colombia is located in one of the most patrolled regions of the country by the Army, there is no way at all that visitors can enter in the site without previously checked by Colombian soldiers.

Whoever told you that is pulling your leg, that is a tale for Indiana Jones movies threads, not for serious archaeology forums.

Hm. I dont recall being checked by soldiers on the road to or the entrance when I went. Of course the Tour agency checked that though... I do recall however, a large presence of milotary at the city itself..

During the trek..you pass many abandoned coca fields...as of 2013, there was still a precense of guerilla activity in the Sierra Nevada region...suppose that may have changed.

As the for the city itself..I think it's bigger than people thnk it is.....Just my theory though.


eta: the guerillas could actually be paramilitary.... Having spoken to several Colombians and people from the area, I would say there is definately shady business going on in the region

a reply to: Tucket

Yes, in the size of the archaeological site you are right, this is several times larger than anything else found similar in South America, including Machu Pichu.

The point is that Buritaca200, the so called lost city is just one among 250 villages that are interconnected in the Sierra Nevada by a very complex web of stone paths and ladder systems. The place is the highest neighborhood, where the government buildings were located of a really large community system.

The Sierra Nevada of Sta Marta as a matter of fact can be seen as a metropolitan area of a huge prehispanic metropolis that was built from the beaches in the Caribbean to the highlands not so far from the glaciers.

What makes more difficult to western people to realize this concept is that the aborigines didn't have our mentality to separate civilization from nature, their civilization was one that was completely ecological, totally integrated with the surrounding tropical forest.

In this sense we are talking about something that perfectly could overcome the size of Cuzco, TenochTitlan and even Chan Chan, becoming al together the largest metropolis of the Americas in PreColumbian times.

Ciudad perdida alone supported 8000 inhabitants, but if you consider the other 249 surroundings villages or neighborhoods we have an area that is as large of the current metropolitan area of Mexico city with a population over 300000 at least, perhaps even larger up to a million.

Thanks

The Angel of Ligthness

Another fun thread - and well researched. Thanks!