1492, Spain
The Santa Maria was Christopher Columbus’ flagship on his first voyage to the New World.
Christopher Columbus set sail on board of the Santa Maria in 1492 for the New World. Alongside came the Nina and the Pinta. Leaving the port of Palos in search of a westward route towards ...
1492, Spain
The Santa Maria was Christopher Columbus’ flagship on his first voyage to the New World.
Christopher Columbus set sail on board of the Santa Maria in 1492 for the New World. Alongside came the Nina and the Pinta. Leaving the port of Palos in search of a westward route towards Asia, Columbus sailed for six days towards the Canary Islands, then after 33 days sailing he reached the Bahamas island of Guanahani and shortly later reached Hispaniola (known as Haiti). There the Santa Maria ran aground and being beyond repair her timber was used to erect fences around the first settlement in the New World.
The Santa Maria was a second-hand medium size merchant vessel not meant for exploration. She had a single deck and three masts. She was of the carrack type vessels developed in the fifteenth century by Portuguese for use in the Atlantic Ocean and were widely used across Europe and later on by the Spanish to explore the world. The carracks usually had square sails on the foremast and mainmast and lateen sails on the mizzenmast and a high rounded stern.
