The City of the Caesars (Spanish Ciudad de los Césares), also variously known as ''City of Patagonia'', ''the Wandering City'', ''Trapalanda'' or ''Trapananda'', ''Lin Lin'' or ''Elelín'', is a

mythical city Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...

of South America. It was supposedly located somewhere in

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

, in a valley of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

between

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Despite being searched for during the colonization of South America, no evidence proves that it ever existed, although reports of it circulated for two hundred years. In 1766 a Jesuit, Father José García Alsue, explored the area now part of

Queulat National Park Queulat National Park is a national park of Chile located in the Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region. The park is bordered by the Cisnes River on the south side and is neighbor to Lago Rosselot National Reserve. It contains of gl ...

Aysén Region The Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region ( es, Región de Aysén, , '), often shortened to Aysén Region or Aisén,Examples of name usage1, official regional government site refers to the region as "Región de Aysén"., Chile's of ...

, Chile, searching unsuccessfully for the City of the Caesars.

Myth

The city is described as prosperous and rich, plenty of gold, silver and diamonds. At least one description says it was located in between two mountains, somewhere in the Andes mountains, one of gold and another of diamonds. Sometimes it is described as an enchanted city that appears in certain moments; or such that those who come upon it by chance in their travels forget the encounter; or such that hunters of it will walk away with mountains of fortune and treasure. Its purported founders include survivors of a Spanish shipwreck in the Strait of Magellan, survivors in exile of the Destruction of the Seven Cities, ghosts,

Patagonian giants The Patagones or Patagonian giants were a race of giant humans rumoured to be living in Patagonia and described in early European accounts. They were said to have exceeded at least double normal human height, with some accounts giving heights of ...

and survivors of the

Inca Empire The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, ( Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The adm ...

; indeed, one explanation of the legend is that it derived from stories told to sailors by aborigines describing the Empire of Peru.Rodriguez S, 2004, ''Southern Chronicles: from the colonisation to the foundation of Ushuaia'', Rubí Ediciones, Ushuaia, p. 51, referring to 'the de Angelis collection put together by the Argentine state press in 1835'.

In popular media

Charles Sheffield Charles Sheffield (25 June 1935 – 2 November 2002), an English-born mathematician, physicist and science-fiction writer, served as a President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronautical Society. ...

's science fiction story "Trapalanda" (in ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publicatio ...

,'' June, 1987) is built around a quest to find Trapalanda. '' Pacha Pulai'' by is a Chilean novel about a young aviator finding the City of the Caesars by accident. *

Tripura (mythology) Tripura, meaning three cities or fortresses, is described in Hindu mythology as being constructed by the great Asura architect Mayasura. They were great cities of prosperity, power and dominance over the world, but due to their impious nature, ...

References

*Carl Waldman, Jon Cunningham, Encyclopedia of Exploration, New York 2004, *Memoria Chilena Portal de la cultura de Chile. La búsqueda de la Ciudad de los Césares. 2004

(in Spanish) Chilean mythology Chilean legends History of Patagonia Exploration of Chile Governorate of the Río de la Plata Mythical utopias Mythological populated places Fictional populated places in Chile {{Chile-stub

Myth

In popular media

See also

References