Seniors Visit the City Where Columbus Departed

I’d like to think that I can remember back in highschool prior to 1957 that Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón as he is known in Spain) sailed from a port called Palos with three ships. I bet seniors can still name them. We forget a lot of historical facts, but not that one.

So I just had to look up that famed port in southern Spain to see if seniors might enjoy a visit. The answer was yes.  Wikipedia was a great help as usual with more facts that I could possibly read in a day. Typical Free Encyclopedia but kind of overdone in my opinion.  Anyway, onward to Palos.

If seniors enjoy reading maps, Maplandia is a great site for exploring areas by satellite as well as terrain. Having visited southern Spain with my wife, I did not realize until now how close we were to Palos, just west of Sevilla. Each day I read the historical events that happened that day and on Aug. 3 it reported on Columbus leaving the port headed for America, so I had to visit Palos.

Palos de la Frontera is the small (7,300+), quiet town on the River Tinto just 10km upstream from Huelva City and the sea. This is a very historical town whose city area has been called the “cradle of the discovery”. This travel guide called Costa de la Luz details more on the voyage.

Seniors, We Missed the Drama

The port of Palos de la Frontera has lost some of the drama that it enjoyed 500 years ago, since it is nowadays situated inland, due to the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which altered the coastline, and also, more recently, due to the construction of the docks that shelter the port of Huelva.

Everything in this town however recalls that 1492 adventure. Thus, in a small monolith that stands across from the Mudejar doorway of the church of San Jorge, from the 14th century, seniors can see the engraved names of the seventy sailors from Palos who took part in the Discovery.

De la Rabida is a Franciscan monastery in Palos. Christopher Columbus stayed in this monastery before obtaining approval from the Catholic Monarchs for his expedition to the New World. The Statue to Pinzón is located at the main square of Palos. Martin Alonso Pinzón was the ship owner and captain of the Pinta – one of the Columbus’ 3 ships. And what are the other two names?

TripAdvisor provides an overview of Palos:Huelva including photos & videos, a travel forum and things to see and do. If you enjoy eating strawberries like my wife and I, Palos is the place. Acres and acres of fields.

I always enjoy seeing videos on where I want to travel so I conclude with a plethora of them. The first one, “Palos de la Frontera” is a good one to start out with. Enjoy your visit.  jeb