[ Dec.2016 ] The Gold Museum in Bogotà is one of the main things to see in Colombia.
Apparently they keep as many as 55,000 historical gold artifacts.
They show only a part of them in the museum, but still, it was really overwhelming.
The current gold price is roughly 1200 dollars per 1 troy ounce (about 31 grams).
So how much is this museum worth??
Having said that, to be honest, because there were so many things, I was gradually getting used to them and lost the sense of value while I was watching them.
According to our guide, Andie, Colombia used to be abundant in gold and the Spanish, when they arrived, were crafty enough to exchange mirrors for gold.
Although gold was abundant, the ones who possessed it were people like shamans who held power in the indigenous society with some religious meanings.
There were some exhibits showing how they wore the various gold stuff on themselves with the shadow of figures.
The indigenous people used to have a ceremony to throw gold into a lake called Laguna de Guatavita, which is about 60 km north of Bogota and the shape is almost a circle.
There was a dark room in the museum (the photo above) evoking the voice of the shaman for this ceremony, which was magical and very interesting.
The famous El Dorado legend was apparently born in this lake.
The state started collecting and protecting these gold things in 1930s.
An honest man found one gold container and reported it to the authority, which was the beginning of it.
I bought a pendant of the shape of a figure at the museum shop.
Unfortunately this is not pure gold, but the plated silver.
They gave me a card saying this is the reproduction of the gold figure found in Tolima, the central area in the country.
Andie said that there are still some gold mines in Colombia, but we did not see many gold accessories shops.
