To celebrate Christopher Columbus Day we decided to visit the place where it all began; La Rabida, Spain. Today we drove about 2 hours north to a little town that was full of history.
We started our day by visiting the starting point of it all: Where Columbus stayed for 2 years prior to leaving Spain, dreamt of crossing the ocean, waited for King Ferdinarnd and Queen Isabella to fund his voyage, and where he prayed before his travels began.
Monasterio de Santa Maria de la Rabida
It was in this room where:
"The initial discussions between Columbus and Father Marcheng took place in the XVth century.
This room is called "The Bethlehem or Cradle of America"."
In this room:
"The Ancient rectory of the monks, XVth century. Columbus and his son Diego ate here. The crucifix is of the XIIIth century".
(That is insane that we were sitting in a room where Columbus ate prior to finding the Americas... and how amazing it was to see the crucifix from the 13th century!!)
The rooms of the monks (and one of which Columbus stayed in).
"The Chapter House, where Columbus, Father Marcheng, Father Juan Perez, the Pizon brothers, Garci-Fernandez, and others held their final discussions"
This was may favorite room of the whole monastery.
This was just one corner- but the whole room was lined with flags from each country Columbus sailed to... including a box under filled with soil from each country!! How cool is that?!
From here we went to where Columbus and crew departed Spain and set sail for the Americas. I was in shock when we arrived and saw the exact replicas of the ships they traveled in.... they are SO SMALL!!
Nina, Santa Maria, and Pinta
The Santa Maria was captained by Christoper Columbus and was the largest of the three ships. It was about 36 meters long.
The Pinta and Nina were small caravels measuring about 15-20 meters long.
On the Santa Maria
Front of the Pinta or Nina (I am not sure.. they are both small!!)
Inside the Santa Maria
Santa Maria
What a great day trip... one place I am happy to have visited!
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