![]() “Cathedrals, castles and ships-those were the most complicated things that humans had built up until that time,” says Nucup. The 20 sailors on the Niña and the 26 crewing the Pinta would have been constantly engaged with adjusting the rigging, trimming the sails, inspecting for leaks and plugging them with spongy scraps of old rope called oakum. Work was relentless on any 15th-century ship. “You’re trying to stay out of the way of the sailors who are working. “If you’re a sailor on a caravel, you’re living on the deck and sleeping on the deck,” says Marc Nucup, public historian at The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia. Unlike the Santa Maria, which at least had tiny cabins where sailors could sleep between eight-hour shifts, the Niña and Pinta had a single small deck at the rear of the ship with only one cramped cabin reserved for the captain. The versatile caravel could speed south along the coast and easily return to shore against the wind. The lateen-rigged caravels were critical in the Portuguese voyages to sub-Saharan African, where strong coastal winds blow north to south. “You can point the bow of the caravel with an angle of just 20 degrees off the wind and still get enough lift on the outer edge of the sail to propel forward.” “Lateen sails are almost like wings,” says Castro. ![]() Luis Filipe Viera de Castro, a nautical archeologist at Texas A&M University, says that the earlier Portuguese caravels, known as the caravela latina, were rigged with lateen (triangular) sails that hung at 45-degree angle to the deck. Though only two of Columbus’s ships ended up being caravels, Isabella’s decree speaks to the popularity of the vessel during the 15th-century “ Age of Discovery.” Starting with Portuguese explorations of the African coast in the mid-1400s, caravels were prized for their sleek, lightweight hull and their uncanny ability to sail into the wind. The Niña was a caravel built in the Moguer shipyard, very near the Wharf of the Caravels, at what is now considered one of several lugarescolombinos or ‘Columbian places’ which were particularly important to Columbus’ first voyage.Caravels Were Cutting Edge in the 15th Century The ship was owned by Juan de la Cosa, a Cantabrian sailor who took part in several voyages to America. Little is known about where the Santa María was built,though different studies suggest the shipyards at Santander and Pontevedra as possible candidates. Santa María was shipwrecked at Santo Domingo shortly after arriving and the wreckage was used to build Fort Navidad, the first Spanish settlement in America. It’s likely that the wooden construction hasn’t survived the passage of time. Archaeological excavations have unearthed everything from ovens to a fish auction site,but sadly there are no remains (none that have been discovered anyway) of the shipyard where la Niña was built. ![]() The location of the Medieval port was unknown until what remained was discovered in 2014 near Palos’ old town. The Wharf of the Caravels is on the banks of the Río Tinto, though this is not the site of the ancient Port of Palos where Columbus and his ships set sail in 1492.The original sheltered stretch of water gradually retreated until it disappeared completely, and what was once a port is now dry land. You can also watch a film that takes you through the main milestones of the voyage. The journey into the past continues around the wharf with depictions of a Medieval port district and of the indigenous people of Guanahani (San Salvador Island) – the first island visited by Columbus during the voyage.Īn Interpretation Centre recreates the society of the time and exhibits documents and sailing instruments from the period, including charts and correspondence between Columbus and the Catholic Monarchs. You can visit the three ships in their entirety, and children of all ages (big kids too) will love exploring inside the vessels that crossed the Atlantic in search of the Indies, from the bridges down to the cabins and wine cellars. Moored to the custom-built wharf are replicas of the Pinta, the Niña and the Santa María. The Wharf of the Caravels is on the banks of the Río Tinto in the outskirts of Palos de la Frontera. Opened in 1994, the wharf is a fantastic place for learning more about Columbus’ historical crossing to the New World. This floating museum is in Palos de la Frontera, the place where Columbus set sail with his fleet in August 1492.It was built to exhibit the three replica ships constructed for the Seville Expo ’92, which celebrated the 500 th anniversary of the first voyage of discovery to America. The Muelle de las Carabelas, or Wharf of the Caravels, has life size replicas of the three ships that sailed to the Americas with Christopher Columbus.
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