Ciudad Perdida

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Ciudad Perdida (translation: "Lost City") is the archaeological site of an ancient city in Sierra Nevada, Colombia. It may have been founded as early as the 5th century BC.

Ciudad Perdida was discovered in 1972, when a group of local treasure looters found a series of stone steps rising up the mountainside and followed them to an abandoned city which they named "Green Hell." When gold figurines and ceramic urns from this city began to appear in the local black market, authorities revealed the site in 1975.

Members of local tribes—the Arhuaco, the Kogi and the Assario—have stated that they visited the site regularly before it was widely discovered, but had kept quiet about it. They call the city Teyuna and believe it was the heart of a network of villages inhabited by their forebears, the Tairona. Ciudad Perdida was probably the region's political and manufacturing center on the Buritaca River and may have housed 2000-8000 people. It was apparently abandoned during the Spanish conquest.

Ciudad Perdida consists of a series of 169 terraces carved into the mountainside, a net of tiled roads and several small circular plazas. The entrance can only be accessed by a climb up some 1200 stone steps through dense jungle.

Unfortunately, the area is currently in the geographic center of a war between the Colombian army, right-wing paramilitary groups (AUC) and left-wing guerilla groups like Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). On September 15, 2003, ELN kidnapped 8 foreign tourists that were visiting Ciudad Perdida, demanding government investigation of human rights abuses in exchange for their hostages. ELN released the last of the hostages three months later. The AUC has declared itself protector of this area. The Colombian Institute of Anthropology has avoided the area ever since the kidnappings occurred; access to tourists has also been restricted.

As of 2005, tourist treks are operational again. For a 6 day return trek to the lost city, the cost is approx.. 150 USD. This includes one night staying at the lost city. The trek is about 40 km of walking in total, and requires a good level of fitness.