It’s
Columbus Day.
For
the Madeira Wine Expo 98 in Lisbon, leadership of the island had a 72-foot by
23-foot replica of the Santa Maria built in the fishing village of Camara de
Lobos. It was visited by 97,000 persons
during the wine conference. Today, the
Santa Maria dupe is berthed in Funchal.
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| Santa Maria replica berth in Funchal, the capital city of the island of Madeira |
SANTA MARIA: The original
medium-sized carrack known as Christopher Columbus’s flagship, the Santa Maria,
was built in Pontevedra, Galicia, in Spain’s northwest region. Early historians reported it was only about
58 feet long and ran about 100 tons. For
Columbus’s 1492 expedition, the Santa Maria had a single deck and three
masts. The sister ships in 1492 were the
caraval-sized La Nina and La Pinta, which carried less tonnage than the Santa
Maria. Exact measurements have been lost
to history.
Earlier
replicas of the three ships of exploration sailed from Spain to the United
States in 1893 as part of the Chicago World Expo.
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| Funchal downtown |
MADEIRA: With a modern day
population of 267,785, Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal, is an
archipelago comprising 4 islands off the northwest coast of Africa. It’s known
for its namesake wine and warm, subtropical climate. The main island of Madeira
is volcanic, green and rugged, with high cliffs, pebbly beaches and settlements
on deltas of the Fajã River. Capital city Funchal has botanic gardens and is
known for its harbor and a large New Year's fireworks show.
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| What a difference a few centuries can make |
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