Christopher Columbus

Think, how much do you know about who in fact was Christopher Columbus, officially opened the New World? It turns out that the whole turbulent biography of Columbus is shrouded in a fog of mystery from his birth to death. The centuries that have passed since that time, apparently, have for ever concealed from us many facts from the life of this man.

Think, how much do you know about who in fact was Christopher Columbus, officially opened the New World?

Christopher Columbus is an outstanding navigator, who is believed to have discovered America in 1492. Although its existence was known even ancient vikings, and even earlier Celts, the Phoenicians, the Egyptians, the Chinese and other peoples. This is evidenced by some ancient legends and sagas. In any case, it is certain that the pre-Columbian discoveries of America had no historical consequences, since they did not change people's ideas about the Earth. This happened only after the discoveries of Christopher Columbus. After all, with his voyages he began the era of great geographical discoveries.

So, for example, there is no reliable information in which family, where and when exactly the future seafarer was born. The year of birth 1451 remains questionable. It is not known for certain, at what age he went to his famous expedition - was it a daring young romantic of the sea, or already a salted "sea wolf".

The second mystery: where was Christopher Columbus born? To answer this question is to establish its nationality. It is argued that the fourteen cities of Spain, Italy and Portugal (and a number of other countries) still challenge the honor of being the motherland of the seafarer, including such as the Portuguese Porto and Lisbon, the Spanish Barcelona and Seville, the Italian Genoa ... And the Spanish historian Gabriel Verdi claims that the famous navigator was from the town of Felanel on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Another Portuguese historian Barreto expressed the opinion that "Columbus" is only a pseudonym, and the real name of the navigator is Salvador Ferdinand Zarku, and he was born in a well-to-do Portuguese family of the city of Cuba (province of Alentejo). And, however, most biographers of the great navigator recently seem to agree that his native city was the Italian Genoa. It turns out that Christopher Columbus was Italian. Researchers argue that Christopher Columbus was either a scientist-cartographer, or an experienced navigator, and perhaps even pirate...

Nothing is known about what kind of education and where Christopher Columbus got it. Some people think that he was a capable self-taught person. But his son Fernando claimed that his father was studying at the University of the Italian city of Padua, although he was not found in the lists of students of this university. Have not been found, and not a single lifetime image of Columbus. Therefore, each artist depicted him in his own way...

Now about the Columbian discovery of America. It turns out that until now it is not established reliably on which island, named San Salvador ("Savior"), Christopher Columbus landed. It was believed that it is located in the group of the Bahamas and is now called Samana Kai.

However, many scientists dispute this opinion. For example, the American scientist J. Winslow claims that the historical discovery occurred on one of the islets of Berry, located somewhat north of the Bahamas. So it is or not, the question remains open.

Finally, paradoxically, for centuries, many cities of the Old and New Worlds are proud of the fact that they have the tomb of Christopher Columbus. And this despite the fact that unlike the place and date of birth, it is reliably known that the great seafarer died on May 20, 1506 in the small Spanish city of Valladolid and was buried in one of the crypts of the local monastery. But three years later his son Diego ordered the transfer of the coffin to the monastery of Santa Maria de Las Cuevas in Seville. Here the remains of Columbus rested for about 30 years. Then, in 1542, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the discovery of America and at the request of the widow Diego, Columbus, according to the will of the greatest seafarer, was transported to America, to the island of Haiti, and buried in the crypt of Santo Domingo, the capital of the present Dominican Republic . However, according to the biographers of the great navigator, and there his ashes found no peace. In 1795, the island withdrew to France, the Spanish admiral Artisabel ordered to open the crypt and transport the remains of Christopher Columbus to the "Spanish soil" - at that time the island of Cuba that belonged to her, to Havana. Here he was duly buried in the local cathedral on January 19, 1796.

However, there is no unity in this matter: in Santo-Domingo they continue to assert that the remains of the great seafarer are in their possession, and to Havana they were mistakenly transported... to his son Diego.

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