GONZALO JIMENEZ DE QUESADA

Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada and Rivera or Giménez de Quesada  was a Spanish explorer and conqueror of Colombia between 1536 and 1572. He commanded the expedition of conquest of New Granada (current Colombia) and founded among others Bogota, the current capital of Colombia, in 1538. the last shipment was made between 1569 and 1572 in search of El Dorado, which ended disastrously.

Quesada founded Bogotá with a church, where Bartolomé de las Casas on August 6, 1538 celebrated the first Mass of Santa Fe de Bogota, taken as the date of the founding of the city. Quesada and his men remained in the region until the arrival in 1539 of the expeditions of Sebastián de Belalcázar coming from Ecuador and Nicolas Federman coming from Venezuela.

With the idea of reaching the fabled and mythical land of El Dorado, in 1568, at the age of 60, Jimenez de Quesada received a commission to conquer Los Llanos east of the Colombian Andes. He left Santa Fe de Bogotá in April 1569 with 400 Spaniards, 1500 natives, 1100 horses and 8 priests.

The expedition was one of the most expensive disasters recorded and after a brief stint in the command of the border, Quesada retired to Suesca with what could save his fortune.

He died of leprosy in Mariquita on February 16, 1579, and his remains are in the Cathedral of Bogota.