History has given us many iconic dates, but few have left as much of an imprint and have become as iconic as October 12, 1492, when the expedition commanded by Christopher Columbus arrived at the island of Guanahaní. That day his crew breathed a sigh of relief. The old and new world came (officially) into contact. And humanity took another step towards the Modern Era. That event was so important that it and its protagonists have been covered in rivers floods of ink. The latest on account of a discovery in the subsoil of southern Galicia.
Its protagonists are Columbus’ ships.
On a farm in Pontevedra… In recent months, the residents of Pontevedra (Galicia) have looked with special interest at a plot located in the heart of the urban center, between Arcebispo Malvar Street and Avenida de Uruguay, very close to the coast of the Lérez River. The plot in question measures 14,000 m2, is known in the city as ‘Finca do Teucro’ and is interesting because they want to develop it.
Hence, some time ago the promoters of the project, promoted by Sareb, hired a company specialized in tastings. The objective: to clarify if any important archaeological remains are hidden under the rocks and weeds of the site.
Surprise under the ground. So far nothing special. Nor does it deserve to go beyond the pages of the local press. If the tastings have grabbed headlines throughout Galicia and even other regions, that is why archaeologists have found them.
In the most superficial layer they discovered a vestige without much historical interest, but that has shaken the nostalgia of more than one Pontevedra resident: the old sports court where SD Teucro, a local handball team, trained decades ago. He played there in the 60s, before doing so at the Municipal Pavilion.
What is important is what the archaeologists discovered when excavating deeper levels of the estate. Their shovels revealed a stone wall and a structure that experts (in the absence of more exhaustive analysis) have identified as a medieval shipyard and a small dock. Much of the construction is still underground, but a priori the discovery fits with what we know about Pontevedra’s seafaring past. Now it is up to the Xunta to evaluate the remains.
Why’s that? The person in charge of presenting the discovery was the Councilor for Urban Planning, Alberto Oubiña, who recalled the role that shipyards such as the one that has just emerged under the weeds in Finca do Teucro once played.
They did not manufacture warships or merchant vessels, nor frigates like those of Ferrol. Its function was rather different: to build and repair light boats that were then used to fish on the coast, navigate the estuaries and engage in river transport. “Everything indicates that they could have been small shipyards where people prepared and launched their barges,” clarifies Oubiña.
What does it have to do with Columbus? During his presentation, the councilor not only offered a few glimpses of the maritime history of Pontevedra during the Middle Ages. When talking about the shipyards in the area, he also made a comment that has attracted attention beyond Galicia: “There are those who even say that one of the caravels with which Columbus went to Colonize America was made there.”
This does not mean that in Pontevedra they believe that the vestiges of ‘Finca do Teucro’ can be directly related to the 1492 expedition (in fact the shipyard seems designed for barges), but Oubiña’s words have served to stir up an old theory, closely linked to oral tradition, which assures that one of Columbus’ ships was related to Galicia.
La María, aka ‘Gallega’. Oubiña did not go into details, he only spoke of “one of the caravels” of the 1942 expedition, but his words have little of mystery. Three large ships participated in Columbus’s adventure: the caravels Pinta and Niña and the ship Santa María. Of the three, this last one is the one that has been seen with the greatest interest from the north. The reason: some historians claim that sailors knew it as ‘La Gallega’, a supposed nod to its place of construction. Right now its manufacturing is usually located in Cantabria.
Galician theory dates back to at least the 19th century and a few years ago he was responsible for remembering it in Pontevedra Live Guillermo García de la Riega Bellver when reviewing some of the theses defended in the essay ‘La Gallega, Nao Capitana de Colón’. The work states that “there is no justification” that the Santa María was actually built in Cantabria and, after remembering the ship’s nickname (‘La Gallega’), it argues that in 15th century Pontevedra “boats of all kinds” were also built, not just barges.
Why is it important? For several reasons. The first, because the theories about the Galician link of the Santa María ship are by no means new. It was outlined several centuries ago by the scholar Martín Sarmiento. The origin of that specific ship is especially interesting due to the central role (the admiral was traveling on it) that it played in Columbus’s expedition that ended up reaching America.
The second reason is that the theory about the supposed Pontevedra origin of the Santa María connects with another, much more popular hypothesis, which asserts that Columbus himself had Galician roots. Its defenders place its birthplace in the south of Galicia. There are those who even identified him with a capital figure in the Late Middle Ages of Galicia: Pedro Álvarez de Sotomayor, ‘Pedro Madruga’.
Images | Wikipedia 1 and 2, Sareb
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