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Ciudad Perdida - The Lost City by Fausto Giaccone
Archaeologists know the site as “Buritaca 200” but to the lovers of the great pre-Colombian civilizations of the American continent, and to the few, brave tourists who manage to visit its ruins in the midst of the jungle, at over one thousand meters above sea level, it has the more fascinating and appropriate name of “Ciudad Perdida”, “The Lost City”. And a lost city it is indeed. Built between 500 and 700 A.D. and inhabited at its apogee by over 5000 Tairona Indians, the city was abandoned during the 16th century and forgotten.
The only way to go is ascend on foot the long, steep stone stairways. The view is astonishing: platforms upon which the Tairona built their houses and ceremonial buildings, tall, massive retaining walls made without mortar, stone stairways which lead up to the top of the platforms, and paths, likewise paved, which connected one to the other, creating true urban routes to get to, through and out of the inhabited area. But who were the Tairona? Besides the Ciudad Perdida they founded hundreds of other settlements in the surrounding area, and developed a high level of creative craftsmanship in wood, ceramics and especially gold. Archaeologists are trying to solve the riddle since 1975, when the Ciudad Perdida was found. So the indios Kogi, who claim to be Tairona’s descents.
