During the Spanish conquest, in the sixteenth century, the Muisca indigenous people hid many treasures in caves, holes and inclined hills around Bogotá. One of these treasures was hidden in a cave on Cerro Guadalupe, it was a life-size golden deer along with numerous indigenous jewelry created by the Muiscas.

At the end of the seventeenth century, a Portuguese adventurer named Diego Barreto arrived in Bogotá, a fan of games of chance, who fell in love with the beautiful Bogota native Inés Domínguez, daughter of the merchant Pedro Domínguez Lugo, who was a widower.

They say that, when Diego serenaded Inés, the young woman's father attacked him with his saber. Fortunately, the young man managed to avoid the blow and injured Inés' father, leaving him almost dead at the door of her house. The house of Inés and her father was located above the Las Nieves neighborhood,   the foot of the Monserrate and Guadalupe hills

Fleeing from justice, the young Portuguese ran quickly through the mountains near Guadalupe Hill. Faced with a heavy downpour, he took refuge in a cave. After being there for a while and with his eyes already accustomed to the darkness of the place, he managed to spot a solid deer carved in gold.

They say that the wealth was immense, but he was unable to enjoy it initially due to persecution by the authorities. He then decided to tear off the deer's antlers and left the cave, leaving his sword stuck in it to know that the rest of the treasure was there. From there you could see the Veracruz church perfectly. He walked many kilometers until he reached the plains of the department of Casanare, sure that then he could return for his treasure.

They say that Diego Barreto, in his travels through America, visited various regions but always had the desire to return for the rest of the golden deer. Four years later he returned to Bogotá convinced that no one remembered the crime he had committed. However, Pedro Domínguez himself, who had healed from his wounds, waited for him in a dark, dead-end alley and pierced him with his sword.

Diego died immediately and took with him the secret of the place where the famous golden deer was found. Since then, many Bogota residents and those who tell the story have searched in the caves of Cerro de Guadalupe for the golden deer that remained a legend.

JuanJo Infante