In the 16th century Spain was sending expeditions, colonists and military to the New World to populate the Americas. It was also sending home treasures such as gold and silver back to Europe. The original ships being used were not built for trans-Atlantic trade, and so the galleon was invented and designed to transport precious cargoes of goods and people.
El Galeón Andalucia is an exact replica of a 16th century Spanish galleon. She is on tour of the US east coast this summer. This weekend she was in Newburyport, Massachusetts where we were able to tour her. She is 170 feet long, 495 tons.
Ships like El Galeón were sailing back and forth from Spain to the New World 100 years before the Mayflower landed in Massachusetts. Although Newburyport was a center for ship building and maritime activity, galleons never sailed here.
El Galeón Andalucia's home port is Sevilla, Spain. We had fun talking to the crew and finding out their home towns. Most of the crew were from Andalucia, but some were from other parts of Spain like Barcelona and Valencia. Vincent had a blast speaking with the Spaniards, and he ended up buying several souvenirs to help support the ship - a magnet, a baseball hat, a flag and a Spanish tile with an image of El Galeón Andalucia.
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| This device measured the speed of the ship in "knots" |
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "El Galeón in Newburyport, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 30, 2016, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/05/el-galeon-in-newburyport-massachusetts.html: accessed [access date]).
She is gorgeous, isn't she! She spent most of last year down here - helping us celebrate our 450th. Our bayfront just isn't the same without her.
ReplyDeleteAwesome stuff and photos amazing! Sharing this one Thanks Heather
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