Lugares colombinos

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 writer Washington Irving, from the United States, whose travels in Spain included this area.

The Lugares colombinos remain a strong reminder of the history linking Spain to Latin America, and are the most noted historical and cultural sites in the province of Huelva.

The royal provision undertaking to provide two caravels for Columbus was read out at the fourteenth century Church of Saint George the Martyr (Iglesia de San Jorge Mártir) on 30 April 1492.

The base of the fountain dates back to Roman times and it is protected by a tetrapylum, a sort of gazebo, constructed of stone in the thirteenth century[4] in the Mudéjar style.

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

[6][7] The church is of artistic interest for its Gothic-Mudéjar architecture, as well as the grand rooms decorated with frescos by Daniel Vázquez Díaz, the cloister, and the museum, which holds numerous objects commemorating the discovery of America.

In Moguer, Columbus also received support from cleric Martín Sánchez[citation needed] and landowner Juan Rodríguez Cabezudo, to whom he confided the custody of his son Diego during his first voyage.

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

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.

[23] After the Lugares colombinos first became tourist destinations, travellers came on small boats through the estuary of Huelva or on the old Huelva-Seville highway (now the A-472) which passes through nearby San Juan del Puerto.

reynos e Señorios (...) Sabedes que nos habemos mandado a Christobal Colon que con tres carabelas vaya a ciertas partes de la mar oceana como nro.