Lugares colombinos

18th century topographic map ofHuelvaand theLugares colombinos.

TheLugares colombinos( "Columbian places" ) is a tourist route in the SpanishprovinceHuelva,which includes several places that have special relevance to the preparation and realization of thefirst voyageofCristopher Columbus.That voyage is widely considered to constitute the discovery ofthe Americasby Europeans. It was declared aconjunto histórico artístico( "historic/artistic grouping" ) by a Spanish law of 1967.

There are two localities so honored:Palos de la Frontera(both the old center and theLa Rábida Monastery3 kilometres (1.9 mi) distant), andMoguer.Columbus visited each of these places several times, and people associated with each played roles in his voyage. He received help and collaboration for his projected voyage from the brothers of the La Rábida Monastery,the Pinzón Brothersof Palos de la Frontera,the Niño Brothersof Moguer and other prestigious families of mariners in the area who were further distinguished by their participation in the voyage of discovery.

In the years following Columbus's voyage this area of Spain, especially Palos, suffered a great economic decline, owing in part to emigration to the newly discovered territories overseas. The recuperation of the historical importance of this region with respect to the Spanish discovery and conquest of the Americas (and the interest in preserving and restoring the buildings associated with Columbus) began, in part, with the nineteenth-century writerWashington Irving,from the United States, whose travels in Spain included this area. His diary entries for 12–14 August 1828 deal with theLugares colombinos;that same year he would publishA History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus;he also published a short essay about Palos as an appendix toVoyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus.

TheLugares colombinosremain a strong reminder of the history linking Spain toLatin America,and are the most noted historical and cultural sites in the province of Huelva.

Palos de la Frontera

Palos

TheChurch of Saint George the Martyr,Palos de le Frontera.

Main article:Palos de la Frontera

Palos de la Frontera describes itself as the "cradle of the Discovery of America". The royal provision undertaking to provide twocaravelsfor Columbus was read out at the fourteenth centuryChurch of Saint George the Martyr(Iglesia de San Jorge Mártir) on 30 April 1492.It was declared aNational Monumentin 1931.

Near this church is theFontanilla,the public fountain from which, according to tradition, Columbus's boats drew the fresh water for their voyage. The fountain lay between the church'sPuerta de los Noviosand the wharf from which Columbus's expedition departed. The base of the fountain dates back toRomantimes and it is protected by atetrapylum,a sort ofgazebo,constructed of stone in the thirteenth centuryin theMudéjarstyle.

TheFontanilla.

The Pinzón Brothers (Martín Alonso Pinzón,Vicente Yañez Pinzón,andFrancisco Martín Pinzón), co-discoverers of America, were from Palos. The oldest, Martín Alonso, played a decisive role in the voyage. His prestige as a shipowner and marine expert encouraged the mariners throughout the district; he also put up one third of the cost of the voyage and, rejecting the first ships provided for Columbus, obtained others that were more appropriate.The house of the brothers, also, in Palos, is now theCasa Museo de Martín Alonso Pinzón,and conserves its fifteenth century façade and part of its original flooring.

One can also walk along the banks of theRio Tintonear theCalzadillawharf from which thePlus Ultraflying boat took off on the first Trans-Atlantic flight between Spain and South America in January 1926. Quite near that is the historic port of Palos—now disappeared because of decreased river flow andsilting—and the old rural road leading toLa Rábida.

La Rábida

Main article:La Rábida Monastery

La Rábida Monastery.

3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the city center, near the mouth of the Río Tinto, stands theFranciscanmonastery of Santa María de La Rábida (14th-15th century), where in 1485 Christopher Columbus arrived for the first time with his sonDiego,tired and dispirited after his failure withJohn IIin the Portuguese court.

TheVirgin of Miraclesor Saint Mary of La Rábida.

In this small monastery he met with hospitality, help, and support, especially on the part of two monks.Fray Juan Pérez,guardian of the monastery, had served in the court ofSpainas a clerk and confessor and Fray Antonio de Marchena, custodian of the monastery and a famousastrologer(a role that had not yet been fully disentangled from that of anastronomer), had also been a councilor in that court. Both of these monks gave Columbus support at court and helped him to secure the crews he needed. The convent was a place of refuge and of development and promulgation of Columbus's ideas, especially given that the sciences at that time were largely the work of the religious orders.

The church is of artistic interest for itsGothic-Mudéjararchitecture, as well as the grand rooms decorated withfrescosbyDaniel Vázquez Díaz,the cloister, and the museum, which holds numerous objects commemorating the discovery of America.Above all, there is the namesake of the monastery, the fourteenth century statue known as theVirgin of Miraclesor Saint Mary of La Rábida. It is an elegant example of GothicMannerism,bringing the figure a particular curvature, such that it changes in aspect from even small differences of perspective. Columbus and his men prayed before this figure the night before their departure. The statue was crowned by PopeJohn Paul II14 June 1993.It is the only image of theVirgin Marythat John Paul crowned in Spain.

The Monastery was declared a National Monument in 1856.It was declared the "First historical monument of the Hispanic peoples" (Primer Monumento histórico de los pueblos Hispánicos) in 1949.On 28 February 1992, theAndalusian Autonomous Governmentawarded the monastery the "Gold Medal of Andalusia".At the NinthIbero-American Summit(Havana, 1999) the Heads of State and Presidents of Government recognized La Rábida as the site of the Forum of theOrganization of Ibero-American States.

Near La Rábida is theWharf of the Caravels(Muelle de las Carabelas) a museum installation with reproductions of Columbus's ships, theSanta María,La Niña,andLa Pinta.

Moguer

Santa Clara Monastery.

Main article:Moguer

On several occasions, Columbus visited the fourteenth centurySanta Clara Monasteryin Moguer, a convent of thePoor Clares.The abbess,Inés Enríquez,was the aunt of KingFerdinand II,and supported Columbus's projected voyage before the court.

Notable features of the monastery are the Mothers' Cloister (claustro de las Madres), whose fourteenth century lower floorsiglo XIV,reminiscent ofAlmohadarchitecture, is the oldest surviving cloister of a convent or monastery inSpain;the infirmary, a two-story sixteenth centuryRenaissancebuilding with Genovese columns; and the convent church, with threenavesand a polygonalapse.The main altar has analtarpiececarved in 1642 byJerónimo Velázquez,and the fourteenth centurychoirhas Spain's only survivingNasridchoir stalls.The monastery was declared a National Monument in 1931. Next to the monastery is theColumbus Monument.

Replica of the caravelNiñaat theWharf of the Caravels.TheNiñawas owned bythe Niño Brothers.

Columbus and his men passed the first night after returning from his first voyage of discovery in this church,thereby fulfillinga vowthey had made on the high seas when a storm was on the point of capsizing the caravelNiña,which he captained on the return voyage from America after the wreck of theSanta María.

In Moguer, Columbus also received support from cleric Martín Sánchezand landownerJuan Rodríguez Cabezudo,to whom he confided the custody of his son Diego during his first voyage.

One of the provisions that Columbus received from theCatholic MonarchsFerdinand and Isabel was support from the towns of the Andalusian coast in assembling his three caravels.By means of a commission directed to the town of Moguer to fulfill this provision,he seized two boats in this locality in the presence of the notary Moguer Alonso Pardo, boats that were later discarded by Martín Alonso Pinzón.

The caravelNiñawas built in the shipyards of Moguer'spuerto de la riberaaround 1488, and was property of the Niño Brothers, who also played an important role in recruiting and preparing local mariners for Columbus's expedition.

Today, Moguer is also known as the birthplace of the poetJuan Ramón Jiménez(1881–1958), winner of theNobel Prize in Literaturein 1956, perhaps best known for his prose workPlatero y yo(1917; "Platero and I" ). An eighteenth-century house in which he lived from the age of 2 into adulthood is now a museum, theCasa Museo Zenobia y Juan Ramón Jiménez,as is his birthplace—the nineteenth-centuryCasa Natal Juan Ramón Jiménez—and his nearby country houseFuentepiña.

Washington Irving rediscovers theLugares colombinos

Among the prolific works of the nineteenth-century American writerWashington Irvingare several with a bearing on theLugares colombinos:his diary entries for 12–14 August 1828 when he visited the area; portions ofA History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus;and "A visit to Palos", an appendix toVoyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus.His 1828 diaries provide a useful record of the state of theLugares colombinosbefore deliberate preservation and restoration began and also relate his contact with the descendants of the Pinzón Brothers in that era, but far more than that, his work played a determining role in making the world aware of theLugares colombinosand in recovering their history. His works gave worldwide renown toPalos de la Frontera,La Rábida,Moguer,The Pinzón Brothers,Fray Juan Pérez,and so forth as protagonists of the discovery of the Americas.

In 2001, on the occasion of the annual 12 October celebration of the discovery of America, the Provincial Deputation of Huelva officially recognized Irving's role in rescuing the memory of this history and broadcasting it throughout the world.

Access

After theLugares colombinosfirst became tourist destinations, travellers came on small boats through theestuaryof Huelva or on the old Huelva-Sevillehighway (now the A-472) which passes through nearbySan Juan del Puerto.In the 1970s, the area began to industrialize, and a bridge was constructed over the Huelva estuary, linking the capital (the city ofHuelva) to the beaches ofMazagónand to theLugares colombinos.

Today, the main roads into the area are:

• FromHuelva capital:by the H-30, N-442, and H-624 to La Rábida (10 kilometres (6.2 mi)) and to Palos de la Frontera (10 kilometres (6.2 mi)); by the H-30,A-49(in the direction of Seville) and A-494 to Moguer (20 kilometres (12 mi)).
• From theprovince of Seville:by the A-49 (in the direction of Huelva) and A-494 to Moguer (86 kilometres (53 mi)), thence to Palos de la Frontera (93 kilometres (58 mi)) and La Rábida (96 kilometres (60 mi)).