Museo del Oro

             The Museum of Gold, or Museo del Oro, is Bogotá’s most famous museum. It contains over 55,000 pieces of gold and other materials dating back to pre-Hispanic times. It is said that some of the pieces in the Museum were found in the Laguna de Guatavita, believed to have been thrown in due to a ritual or ceremony. The museum is divided into three thematic floors, with the first floor being reception and dining. The second floor breaks down its findings by religion and culture, describing how the pieces were used. This floor also has many mixed animals in gold (e.g., jaguar-frog, human-eagle). On the third floor, there are vivid descriptions of how the pieces were used in rituals and ceremonies. One of the pieces, the Balsa Muisca, is the most famous piece found in the Laguna de Guatavita, being found in 1969.