| The Story |  | | Who was he? | | Son of a wool merchant and born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451, Christopher Columbus was a geography enthusiast from a very young age. He was convinced it was possible to reach Asia by sailing west, across the Atlantic, instead of crossing the African continent. After several rejections of his ideas, Christopher Columbus found a sympathetic audience in Spanish monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile who agreed to sponsor his expedition. And so he set out to conquer his dream and discover a new route to the Indies. He adhered to the thesis that Earth is round, and he made several trips across the Atlantic to reach Asia. Of his four voyages across the ocean, Christopher Columbus never reached India, but he came across many countries on the American continent. | | |  | | The origin of his voyages | | Towards the end of the 15th century, it was nearly impossible to travel to Asia from Europe by land. The route was long and arduous, and after several voyages in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas,Christopher Columbus had an idea: To devise a route for a westward sea passage to the Orient. His idea was rejected by many, including King John II of Portugal and monarchs from Genoa and Venice, but he persevered, taking his idea for a three-ship voyage to the Spanish royal court of Queen Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. After a first refusal in 1490, the king and queen finally agreed to finance his expedition in 1492, convinced by the promise of fortune and the opportunity to export Catholicism to lands across the globe. In August 1492, Christopher Columbus left Spain from the port of Palos de la Frontera with three ships and sailed west across the Atlantic. That time, he landed on an island in the present-day Bahamas, believing it to be Japan. | | |  | | Christopher Columbus and America | | It was on October 12, 1492, after 36 days of sailing, that Christopher Columbus set foot on an island. There, him and his crew encountered a timid but friendly group of natives who were open to trade. He was convinced he reached the Indies, calling the people he met “Indians” and claiming the island for Spain. Christopher Columbus also noticed the bits of gold the natives wore for adornment, and the inhabitants let him believe that the neighbouring island of Cuba, just a few kilometres away, would be full of gold. Christopher Columbus rushed there and declared it Spanish property too. Columbus and his men also continued their journey through present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic, before sailing back home. In 1493, at the request of the queen, he set off on a second expedition, that time with considerably more resources. On this voyage, he discovered the Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico. | | |  | | His third and last voyages | | In May 1498, Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic for the third time. The journey took more time to organize because the Catholic kings were busy fighting off the ambitions of the French in Italy. Columbus also had a specific mission for his expedition: To discover the lands south of the West Indies. That time, he landed in Trinidad and the South American mainland before returning to Haiti, where he founded a colony on his first voyage, but when he got there, he found a settlement deteriorated to the point of near-mutiny. Concerned about the colony's mismanagement, the King of Spain sent a royal official to arrest Columbus and bring him back to Spain where he was put on trial. The charges were later dropped, and in 1502, Columbus went on what would be his last voyage, and of which little is known. He returned to Spain in 1504, weakened and empty-handed, after encountering storms and hostile natives along the way. He died in Valladolid in 1506, still convinced that he had discovered the Indies. Although none of his four expeditions included a stop on the coast of present-day Colombia, the region was named after the explorer by liberator of South America Simon Bolivar. | | | | | |  | | A NEW PARTNERSHIP | | Grand Luxury joins forces with Maison Pierre Frey to dress its website | | |  | | EXPO 2020 DUBAI | | For the first time in history, a world fair is taking place in the UAE | | | |  | | DISCOVER ST MORITZ | | Glamorous and old-school, it's the world's original winter playground | | | | | | |
