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Christopher Columbus

By: History.com Editors

Updated: August 11, 2023 | Original: November 9, 2009

Christopher Columbus

The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he stumbled upon the Americas. Though he did not “discover” the so-called New World—millions of people already lived there—his journeys marked the beginning of centuries of exploration and colonization of North and South America.

Christopher Columbus and the Age of Discovery

During the 15th and 16th centuries, leaders of several European nations sponsored expeditions abroad in the hope that explorers would find great wealth and vast undiscovered lands. The Portuguese were the earliest participants in this “ Age of Discovery ,” also known as “ Age of Exploration .”

Starting in about 1420, small Portuguese ships known as caravels zipped along the African coast, carrying spices, gold and other goods as well as enslaved people from Asia and Africa to Europe.

Did you know? Christopher Columbus was not the first person to propose that a person could reach Asia by sailing west from Europe. In fact, scholars argue that the idea is almost as old as the idea that the Earth is round. (That is, it dates back to early Rome.)

Other European nations, particularly Spain, were eager to share in the seemingly limitless riches of the “Far East.” By the end of the 15th century, Spain’s “ Reconquista ”—the expulsion of Jews and Muslims out of the kingdom after centuries of war—was complete, and the nation turned its attention to exploration and conquest in other areas of the world.

Early Life and Nationality 

Christopher Columbus, the son of a wool merchant, is believed to have been born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451. When he was still a teenager, he got a job on a merchant ship. He remained at sea until 1476, when pirates attacked his ship as it sailed north along the Portuguese coast.

The boat sank, but the young Columbus floated to shore on a scrap of wood and made his way to Lisbon, where he eventually studied mathematics, astronomy, cartography and navigation. He also began to hatch the plan that would change the world forever.

Christopher Columbus' First Voyage

At the end of the 15th century, it was nearly impossible to reach Asia from Europe by land. The route was long and arduous, and encounters with hostile armies were difficult to avoid. Portuguese explorers solved this problem by taking to the sea: They sailed south along the West African coast and around the Cape of Good Hope.

But Columbus had a different idea: Why not sail west across the Atlantic instead of around the massive African continent? The young navigator’s logic was sound, but his math was faulty. He argued (incorrectly) that the circumference of the Earth was much smaller than his contemporaries believed it was; accordingly, he believed that the journey by boat from Europe to Asia should be not only possible, but comparatively easy via an as-yet undiscovered Northwest Passage . 

He presented his plan to officials in Portugal and England, but it was not until 1492 that he found a sympathetic audience: the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile .

Columbus wanted fame and fortune. Ferdinand and Isabella wanted the same, along with the opportunity to export Catholicism to lands across the globe. (Columbus, a devout Catholic, was equally enthusiastic about this possibility.)

Columbus’ contract with the Spanish rulers promised that he could keep 10 percent of whatever riches he found, along with a noble title and the governorship of any lands he should encounter.

Where Did Columbus' Ships, Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria, Land?

On August 3, 1492, Columbus and his crew set sail from Spain in three ships: the Niña , the Pinta and the Santa Maria . On October 12, the ships made landfall—not in the East Indies, as Columbus assumed, but on one of the Bahamian islands, likely San Salvador.

For months, Columbus sailed from island to island in what we now know as the Caribbean, looking for the “pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, spices, and other objects and merchandise whatsoever” that he had promised to his Spanish patrons, but he did not find much. In January 1493, leaving several dozen men behind in a makeshift settlement on Hispaniola (present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic), he left for Spain.

He kept a detailed diary during his first voyage. Christopher Columbus’s journal was written between August 3, 1492, and November 6, 1492 and mentions everything from the wildlife he encountered, like dolphins and birds, to the weather to the moods of his crew. More troublingly, it also recorded his initial impressions of the local people and his argument for why they should be enslaved.

“They… brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks’ bells," he wrote. "They willingly traded everything they owned… They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features… They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron… They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.”

Columbus gifted the journal to Isabella upon his return.

Christopher Columbus's Later Voyages

About six months later, in September 1493, Columbus returned to the Americas. He found the Hispaniola settlement destroyed and left his brothers Bartolomeo and Diego Columbus behind to rebuild, along with part of his ships’ crew and hundreds of enslaved indigenous people.

Then he headed west to continue his mostly fruitless search for gold and other goods. His group now included a large number of indigenous people the Europeans had enslaved. In lieu of the material riches he had promised the Spanish monarchs, he sent some 500 enslaved people to Queen Isabella. The queen was horrified—she believed that any people Columbus “discovered” were Spanish subjects who could not be enslaved—and she promptly and sternly returned the explorer’s gift.

In May 1498, Columbus sailed west across the Atlantic for the third time. He visited Trinidad and the South American mainland before returning to the ill-fated Hispaniola settlement, where the colonists had staged a bloody revolt against the Columbus brothers’ mismanagement and brutality. Conditions were so bad that Spanish authorities had to send a new governor to take over.

Meanwhile, the native Taino population, forced to search for gold and to work on plantations, was decimated (within 60 years after Columbus landed, only a few hundred of what may have been 250,000 Taino were left on their island). Christopher Columbus was arrested and returned to Spain in chains.

In 1502, cleared of the most serious charges but stripped of his noble titles, the aging Columbus persuaded the Spanish crown to pay for one last trip across the Atlantic. This time, Columbus made it all the way to Panama—just miles from the Pacific Ocean—where he had to abandon two of his four ships after damage from storms and hostile natives. Empty-handed, the explorer returned to Spain, where he died in 1506.

Legacy of Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus did not “discover” the Americas, nor was he even the first European to visit the “New World.” (Viking explorer Leif Erikson had sailed to Greenland and Newfoundland in the 11th century.)

However, his journey kicked off centuries of exploration and exploitation on the American continents. The Columbian Exchange transferred people, animals, food and disease across cultures. Old World wheat became an American food staple. African coffee and Asian sugar cane became cash crops for Latin America, while American foods like corn, tomatoes and potatoes were introduced into European diets. 

Today, Columbus has a controversial legacy —he is remembered as a daring and path-breaking explorer who transformed the New World, yet his actions also unleashed changes that would eventually devastate the native populations he and his fellow explorers encountered.

voyage of columbus map

HISTORY Vault: Columbus the Lost Voyage

Ten years after his 1492 voyage, Columbus, awaiting the gallows on criminal charges in a Caribbean prison, plotted a treacherous final voyage to restore his reputation.

voyage of columbus map

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a 500-year-old map of Christopher Columbus's voyage

  • ALL OVER THE MAP

A 500-year-old map used by Columbus reveals its secrets

Newly uncovered text opens a time capsule of one of history’s most influential maps.

This 1491 map is the best surviving map of the world as Christopher Columbus knew it as he made his first voyage across the Atlantic. In fact, Columbus likely used a copy of it in planning his journey.

The map, created by the German cartographer Henricus Martellus, was originally covered with dozens of legends and bits of descriptive text, all in Latin. Most of it has faded over the centuries.

But now researchers have used modern technology to uncover much of this previously illegible text. In the process, they’ve discovered new clues about the sources Martellus used to make his map and confirmed the huge influence it had on later maps, including a famous 1507 map by Martin Waldseemuller that was the first to use the name “America.”

MARTELLUS AND COLUMBUS

Contrary to popular myth, 15th-century Europeans did not believe that Columbus would sail off the edge of a flat Earth, says Chet Van Duzer, the map scholar who led the study. But their understanding of the world was quite different from ours, and Martellus’s map reflects that.

Its depiction of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea is more or less accurate, or at least recognizable. But southern Africa is oddly shaped like a boot with its toe pointing to the east, and Asia is also twisted out of shape. The large island in the South Pacific roughly where Australia can actually be found must have been a lucky guess, Van Duzer says, as Europeans wouldn’t discover that continent for another century. Martellus filled the southern Pacific Ocean with imaginary islands, apparently sharing the common mapmakers’ aversion to empty spaces .

Another quirk of Martellus’s geography helps tie his map to Columbus’s journey: the orientation of Japan. At the time the map was created, Europeans knew Japan existed, but knew very little about its geography. Marco Polo’s journals, the best available source of information about East Asia at the time, had nothing to say about the island’s orientation.

Martellus’s map shows it running north-south. Correct, but almost certainly another lucky guess says Van Duzer, as no other known map of the time shows Japan unambiguously oriented this way. Columbus’s son Ferdinand later wrote that his father believed Japan to be oriented north-south, indicating that he very likely used Martellus’s map as a reference.

When Columbus made landfall in the West Indies on October 12, 1492, he began looking for Japan, still believing that he’d achieved his goal of finding a route to Asia. He was likely convinced Japan must be near because he’d travelled roughly the same distance that Martellus’s map suggests lay between Europe and Japan, Van Duzer argues in a new book detailing his findings.

Van Duzer says it’s reasonable to speculate that as Columbus sailed down the coast of Central and South America on later voyages, he pictured himself sailing down the coast of Asia as depicted on Martellus’s map.

RESTORING A TIME CAPSULE

The map is roughly 3.5 by 6 feet. Such a large map would have been a luxury object, likely commissioned by a member of the nobility, but there’s no shield or dedication to indicate who that might have been. It was donated anonymously to Yale University in 1962 and remains in the university’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Over time, much of the text had faded to almost perfectly match the background, making it impossible to read. But in 2014 Van Duzer won a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities that allowed him and a team of collaborators to use a technique called multispectral imaging to try to uncover the hidden text.

The method involved taking many hundreds of photographs of the map with different wavelengths of light and processing the images to find the combination of wavelengths that best improves legibility on each part of the map (you can play around with an interactive map created by one of Van Duzer’s colleagues here ).

Many of the map legends describe the regions of the world and their inhabitants. “Here are found the Hippopodes: they have a human form but the feet of horses,” reads one previously illegible text over Central Asia. Another describes “monsters similar to humans whose ears are so large that they can cover their whole body.” Many of these fantastical creatures can be traced to texts written by the ancient Greeks.

The most surprising revelation, however, was in the interior of Africa, Van Duzer says. Martellus included many details and place names that appear to trace back to an Ethiopian delegation that visited Florence in 1441. Van Duzer says he knows of no other 15th-century European map that has this much information about the geography of Africa, let alone information derived from native Africans instead of European explorers. “I was blown away,” he says.

The imaging also strengthens the case that Martellus’s map was a major source for two even more famous cartographic objects: the oldest surviving terrestrial globe , created by Martin Behaim in 1492, and Martin Waldseemuller’s 1507 world map , the first to apply the label “America” to the continents of the western hemisphere. (The Library of Congress purchased Waldseemuller’s map for a record $10 million in 2003.)

Waldseemuller liberally copied text from Martellus, Van Duzer found after comparing the two maps. The practice was common in those days—in fact, Martellus himself apparently copied the sea monsters on his map from an encyclopedia published in 1491, an observation that helps date the map.

Despite their commonalities, the maps by Martellus and Waldseemuller have one glaring difference. Martellus depicts Europe and Africa nearly at the left edge of his map, with only water beyond. Waldseemuller’s map extends further to the west and depicts new lands on the other side of the Atlantic. Only 16 years had passed between the making of the two maps, but the world had changed forever.

Greg Miller and Betsy Mason are authors of the forthcoming illustrated book from National Geographic, All Over the Map . Follow the blog on Twitter and Instagram .

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The Ages of Exploration

Christopher columbus, age of discovery.

Quick Facts:

He is credited for discovering the Americas in 1492, although we know today people were there long before him; his real achievement was that he opened the door for more exploration to a New World.

Name : Christopher Columbus [Kri-stə-fər] [Kə-luhm-bəs]

Birth/Death : 1451 - 1506

Nationality : Italian

Birthplace : Genoa, Italy

Christopher Columbus aboard the "Santa Maria" leaving Palos, Spain on his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. The Mariners' Museum 1933.0746.000001

Christopher Columbus leaving Palos, Spain

Christopher Columbus aboard the "Santa Maria" leaving Palos, Spain on his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. The Mariners' Museum 1933.0746.000001

Introduction We know that In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. But what did he actually discover? Christopher Columbus (also known as (Cristoforo Colombo [Italian]; Cristóbal Colón [Spanish]) was an Italian explorer credited with the “discovery” of the America’s. The purpose for his voyages was to find a passage to Asia by sailing west. Never actually accomplishing this mission, his explorations mostly included the Caribbean and parts of Central and South America, all of which were already inhabited by Native groups.

Biography Early Life Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, part of present-day Italy, in 1451. His parents’ names were Dominico Colombo and Susanna Fontanarossa. He had three brothers: Bartholomew, Giovanni, and Giacomo; and a sister named Bianchinetta. Christopher became an apprentice in his father’s wool weaving business, but he also studied mapmaking and sailing as well. He eventually left his father’s business to join the Genoese fleet and sail on the Mediterranean Sea. 1 After one of his ships wrecked off the coast of Portugal, he decided to remain there with his younger brother Bartholomew where he worked as a cartographer (mapmaker) and bookseller. Here, he married Doña Felipa Perestrello e Moniz and had two sons Diego and Fernando.

Christopher Columbus owned a copy of Marco Polo’s famous book, and it gave him a love for exploration. In the mid 15th century, Portugal was desperately trying to find a faster trade route to Asia. Exotic goods such as spices, ivory, silk, and gems were popular items of trade. However, Europeans often had to travel through the Middle East to reach Asia. At this time, Muslim nations imposed high taxes on European travels crossing through. 2 This made it both difficult and expensive to reach Asia. There were rumors from other sailors that Asia could be reached by sailing west. Hearing this, Christopher Columbus decided to try and make this revolutionary journey himself. First, he needed ships and supplies, which required money that he did not have. He went to King John of Portugal who turned him down. He then went to the rulers of England, and France. Each declined his request for funding. After seven years of trying, he was finally sponsored by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.

Voyages Principal Voyage Columbus’ voyage departed in August of 1492 with 87 men sailing on three ships: the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María. Columbus commanded the Santa María, while the Niña was led by Vicente Yanez Pinzon and the Pinta by Martin Pinzon. 3 This was the first of his four trips. He headed west from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean. On October 12 land was sighted. He gave the first island he landed on the name San Salvador, although the native population called it Guanahani. 4 Columbus believed that he was in Asia, but was actually in the Caribbean. He even proposed that the island of Cuba was a part of China. Since he thought he was in the Indies, he called the native people “Indians.” In several letters he wrote back to Spain, he described the landscape and his encounters with the natives. He continued sailing throughout the Caribbean and named many islands he encountered after his ship, king, and queen: La Isla de Santa María de Concepción, Fernandina, and Isabella.

It is hard to determine specifically which islands Columbus visited on this voyage. His descriptions of the native peoples, geography, and plant life do give us some clues though. One place we do know he stopped was in present-day Haiti. He named the island Hispaniola. Hispaniola today includes both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In January of 1493, Columbus sailed back to Europe to report what he found. Due to rough seas, he was forced to land in Portugal, an unfortunate event for Columbus. With relations between Spain and Portugal strained during this time, Ferdinand and Isabella suspected that Columbus was taking valuable information or maybe goods to Portugal, the country he had lived in for several years. Those who stood against Columbus would later use this as an argument against him. Eventually, Columbus was allowed to return to Spain bringing with him tobacco, turkey, and some new spices. He also brought with him several natives of the islands, of whom Queen Isabella grew very fond.

Subsequent Voyages Columbus took three other similar trips to this region. His second voyage in 1493 carried a large fleet with the intention of conquering the native populations and establishing colonies. At one point, the natives attacked and killed the settlers left at Fort Navidad. Over time the colonists enslaved many of the natives, sending some to Europe and using many to mine gold for the Spanish settlers in the Caribbean. The third trip was to explore more of the islands and mainland South America further. Columbus was appointed the governor of Hispaniola, but the colonists, upset with Columbus’ leadership appealed to the rulers of Spain, who sent a new governor: Francisco de Bobadilla. Columbus was taken prisoner on board a ship and sent back to Spain.

On his fourth and final journey west in 1502 Columbus’s goal was to find the “Strait of Malacca,” to try to find India. But a hurricane, then being denied entrance to Hispaniola, and then another storm made this an unfortunate trip. His ship was so badly damaged that he and his crew were stranded on Jamaica for two years until help from Hispaniola finally arrived. In 1504, Columbus and his men were taken back to Spain .

Later Years and Death Columbus reached Spain in November 1504. He was not in good health. He spent much of the last of his life writing letters to obtain the percentage of wealth overdue to be paid to him, and trying to re-attain his governorship status, but was continually denied both. Columbus died at Valladolid on May 20, 1506, due to illness and old age. Even until death, he still firmly believing that he had traveled to the eastern part of Asia.

Legacy Columbus never made it to Asia, nor did he truly discover America. His “re-discovery,” however, inspired a new era of exploration of the American continents by Europeans. Perhaps his greatest contribution was that his voyages opened an exchange of goods between Europe and the Americas both during and long after his journeys. 5 Despite modern criticism of his treatment of the native peoples there is no denying that his expeditions changed both Europe and America. Columbus day was made a federal holiday in 1971. It is recognized on the second Monday of October.

  • Fergus Fleming, Off the Map: Tales of Endurance and Exploration (New York: Grove Press, 2004), 30.
  • Fleming, Off the Map, 30
  • William D. Phillips and Carla Rahn Phillips, The Worlds of Christopher Columbus (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 142-143.
  • Phillips and Phillips, The Worlds of Christopher Columbus, 155.
  • Robin S. Doak, Christopher Columbus: Explorer of the New World (Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2005), 92.

Bibliography

Doak, Robin. Christopher Columbus: Explorer of the New World. Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2005.

Fleming, Fergus. Off the Map: Tales of Endurance and Exploration. New York: Grove Press, 2004.

Phillips, William D., and Carla Rahn Phillips. The Worlds of Christopher Columbus. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Christopher Columbus at the Court of Queen Isabella II of Spain who funded his New World journey. The Mariners' Museum 1950.0315.000001

Map of Voyages

Click below to view an example of the explorer’s voyages. Use the tabs on the left to view either 1 or multiple journeys at a time, and click on the icons to learn more about the stops, sites, and activities along the way.

  • Original "EXPLORATION through the AGES" site
  • The Mariners' Educational Programs

Distance Learning ad

A 500-year-old map used by Columbus reveals its secrets

This newly uncovered text opens a time capsule of one of history’s most influential maps..

voyage of columbus map

This 1491 map is the best surviving map of the world as Christopher Columbus knew it when he made his first voyage across the Atlantic. In fact, Columbus probably used a copy of it in planning his journey.

The map, created by the German cartographer Henricus Martellus, was originally covered with dozens of legends and bits of descriptive text, all in Latin. Most of it has faded over the centuries.

But now researchers have used modern technology to uncover much of this previously illegible text. In the process, they’ve discovered new clues about the sources Martellus used to make his map and confirmed the huge influence it had on later maps, including a famous 1507 map by Martin Waldseemuller that was the first to use the name 'America'.

MARTELLUS AND COLUMBUS

Contrary to popular myth, 15th-century Europeans did not believe that Columbus would sail off the edge of a flat Earth, says Chet Van Duzer, the map scholar who led the study. But their understanding of the world was quite different from ours, and Martellus’s map reflects that.

Its depiction of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea is more or less accurate, or at least recognisable. But southern Africa is oddly shaped like a boot with its toe pointing to the east, and Asia is also twisted out of shape. The large island in the South Pacific roughly where Australia can actually be found must have been a lucky guess, Van Duzer says, as Europeans wouldn’t discover that continent for another century. Martellus filled the southern Pacific Ocean with imaginary islands, apparently sharing the common mapmakers’ aversion to empty spaces .

Another quirk of Martellus’s geography helps tie his map to Columbus’s journey: the orientation of Japan. At the time the map was created, Europeans knew Japan existed, but knew very little about its geography. Marco Polo’s journals, the best available source of information about East Asia at the time, had nothing to say about the island’s orientation.

Martellus’s map shows it running north-south. Correct, but almost certainly another lucky guess says Van Duzer, as no other known map of the time shows Japan unambiguously oriented this way. Columbus’s son Ferdinand later wrote that his father believed Japan to be oriented north-south, indicating that he very likely used Martellus’s map as a reference.

When Columbus made landfall in the Caribbean on October 12, 1492, he began looking for Japan, still believing that he’d achieved his goal of finding a route to Asia. He was probably convinced Japan must be near because he’d travelled roughly the same distance that Martellus’s map suggests lay between Europe and Japan, Van Duzer argues in a new book detailing his findings.

Van Duzer says it’s reasonable to speculate that as Columbus sailed down the coast of Central and South America on later voyages, he pictured himself sailing down the coast of Asia as depicted on Martellus’s map.

RESTORING A TIME CAPSULE

The map is roughly 1 metre by 2 metres (3.5 by 6 feet). Such a large map would have been a luxury object, most likely commissioned by a member of the nobility, but there’s no shield or dedication to indicate whom that might have been. It was donated anonymously to Yale University in 1962 and remains in the university’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Over time, much of the text has faded to almost perfectly match the background, making it impossible to read. But in 2014 Van Duzer won a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities that allowed him and a team of collaborators to use a technique called multi-spectral imaging to try to uncover the hidden text.

The method involved taking many hundreds of photographs of the map with different wavelengths of light and processing the images to find the combination of wavelengths that best improves legibility on each part of the map (you can play around with an interactive map created by one of Van Duzer’s colleagues here ).

Many of the map legends describe the regions of the world and their inhabitants. “Here are found the Hippopodes: they have a human form but the feet of horses,” reads one previously illegible text over Central Asia. Another describes “monsters similar to humans whose ears are so large that they can cover their whole body.” Many of these fantastical creatures can be traced to texts written by the ancient Greeks.

The most surprising revelation, however, was in the interior of Africa, Van Duzer says. Martellus included many details and place names that appear to trace back to an Ethiopian delegation that visited Florence in 1441. Van Duzer says he knows of no other 15th-century European map that has this much information about the geography of Africa, let alone information derived from native Africans instead of European explorers. “I was blown away,” he says.

The imaging also strengthens the case that Martellus’s map was a major source for two even more famous cartographic objects: the oldest surviving terrestrial globe , created by Martin Behaim in 1492, and Martin Waldseemuller’s 1507 world map , the first to apply the label 'America' to the continents of the western hemisphere. (The Library of Congress purchased Waldseemuller’s map for a record £7.5 million ($10 million) in 2003.)

Waldseemuller liberally copied text from Martellus, Van Duzer found after comparing the two maps. The practice was common in those days—in fact, Martellus himself apparently copied the sea monsters on his map from an encyclopedia published in 1491, an observation that helps date the map.

Despite their commonalities, the maps by Martellus and Waldseemuller have one glaring difference. Martellus depicts Europe and Africa nearly at the left edge of his map, with only water beyond. Waldseemuller’s map extends further to the west and depicts new lands on the other side of the Atlantic. Only 16 years had passed between the making of the two maps, but the world had changed forever.

Greg Miller and Betsy Mason are authors of the forthcoming illustrated book from National Geographic, All Over the Map . Follow the blog on Twitter and Instagram .

  • All Over the Map
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The First New World Voyage of Christopher Columbus (1492)

European Exploration of the Americas

Spencer Arnold/Getty Images

  • Ph.D., Spanish, Ohio State University
  • M.A., Spanish, University of Montana
  • B.A., Spanish, Penn State University

How was the first voyage of Columbus to the New World undertaken, and what was its legacy? Having convinced the King and Queen of Spain to finance his voyage, Christopher Columbus departed mainland Spain on August 3, 1492. He quickly made port in the Canary Islands for a final restocking and left there on September 6. He was in command of three ships: the Pinta, the Niña, and the Santa María. Although Columbus was in overall command, the Pinta was captained by Martín Alonso Pinzón and the Niña by Vicente Yañez Pinzón.

First Landfall: San Salvador

On October 12, Rodrigo de Triana, a sailor aboard the Pinta, first sighted land. Columbus himself later claimed that he had seen a sort of light or aura before Triana did, allowing him to keep the reward he had promised to give to whoever spotted land first. The land turned out to be a small island in the present-day Bahamas. Columbus named the island San Salvador, although he remarked in his journal that the natives referred to it as Guanahani. There is some debate over which island was Columbus’ first stop; most experts believe it to be San Salvador, Samana Cay, Plana Cays or Grand Turk Island.

Second Landfall: Cuba

Columbus explored five islands in the modern-day Bahamas before he made it to Cuba. He reached Cuba on October 28, making landfall at Bariay, a harbor near the eastern tip of the island. Thinking he had found China, he sent two men to investigate. They were Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Torres, a converted Jew who spoke Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic in addition to Spanish. Columbus had brought him as an interpreter. The two men failed in their mission to find the Emperor of China but did visit a native Taíno village. There they were the first to observe the smoking of tobacco, a habit which they promptly picked up.

Third Landfall: Hispaniola

Leaving Cuba, Columbus made landfall on the Island of Hispaniola on December 5. Indigenous people called it Haití but Columbus referred to it as La Española, a name which was later changed to Hispaniola when Latin texts were written about the discovery. On December 25, the Santa María ran aground and had to be abandoned. Columbus himself took over as captain of the Niña, as the Pinta had become separated from the other two ships. Negotiating with the local chieftain Guacanagari, Columbus arranged to leave 39 of his men behind in a small settlement, named La Navidad .

Return to Spain

On January 6, the Pinta arrived, and the ships were reunited: they set out for Spain on January 16. The ships arrived in Lisbon, Portugal, on March 4, returning to Spain shortly after that.

Historical Importance of Columbus' First Voyage

In retrospect, it is somewhat surprising that what is today considered one of the most important voyages in history was something of a failure at the time. Columbus had promised to find a new, quicker route to the lucrative Chinese trade markets and he failed miserably. Instead of holds full of Chinese silks and spices, he returned with some trinkets and a few bedraggled Indigenous people from Hispaniola. Some 10 more had perished on the voyage. Also, he had lost the largest of the three ships entrusted to him.

Columbus actually considered the Indigenous people his greatest find. He thought that a new trade of enslaved people could make his discoveries lucrative. Columbus was hugely disappointed a few years later when Queen Isabela, after careful thought, decided not to open the New World to the trading of enslaved people.

Columbus never believed that he had found something new. He maintained, to his dying day, that the lands he discovered were indeed part of the known Far East. In spite of the failure of the first expedition to find spices or gold, a much larger second expedition was approved, perhaps in part due to Columbus’ skills as a salesman.

Herring, Hubert. A History of Latin America From the Beginnings to the Present. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1962

Thomas, Hugh. "Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan." 1st edition, Random House, June 1, 2004.

  • Biography of Christopher Columbus
  • Biography of Christopher Columbus, Italian Explorer
  • The Third Voyage of Christopher Columbus
  • The Second Voyage of Christopher Columbus
  • 10 Facts About Christopher Columbus
  • The Fourth Voyage of Christopher Columbus
  • Biography of Juan Ponce de León, Conquistador
  • Amerigo Vespucci, Explorer and Navigator
  • Where Are the Remains of Christopher Columbus?
  • Biography of Diego Velazquez de Cuellar, Conquistador
  • The Florida Expeditions of Ponce de Leon
  • La Navidad: First European Settlement in the Americas
  • A Brief History of the Age of Exploration
  • Did Christopher Columbus Actually Discover America?
  • Biography of Bartolomé de Las Casas, Spanish Colonist
  • Biography and Legacy of Ferdinand Magellan

Route of the First Voyage of Columbus, 1492

History of Spain

Voyages of Christopher Columbus

Between 1492 and 1504, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus led four Spanish transatlantic maritime expeditions of discovery to the Americas. These voyages led to the widespread knowledge of the New World. This breakthrough inaugurated the period known as the Age of Discovery, which saw the colonization of the Americas, a related biological exchange, and trans-Atlantic trade. These events, the effects and consequences of which persist to the present, are often cited as the beginning of the modern era.

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Category : Maps of voyages by Christopher Columbus

Media in category "maps of voyages by christopher columbus".

The following 74 files are in this category, out of 74 total.

voyage of columbus map

  • Maps of voyages
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Did This Map Guide Columbus?

Researchers decipher a mystifying 15th-century document

Elizabeth Quill

The map itself is undated, but there are clues it was created in 1491: It quotes a book published that year, and Christopher Columbus may have consulted the map (or a copy) before his great voyage. When he landed in the Bahamas, he thought he was close to Japan, an error consistent with Japan’s location on the map, which depicts Asia, Africa and Europe but not, alas, the Americas. The map, made by a German working in Florence named Henricus Martellus, has long been overlooked because fading obscured much of its text. Until now. 

A new analysis reveals hundreds of place names and 60 written passages, a novel view of Renaissance cartography. “It’s a missing link in our understanding of people’s conception of the world,” says Chet Van Duzer, an independent historian who led the analysis of the map, currently held at Yale University’s Beinecke Library. Martellus relied on Claudius Ptolemy’s projections and then updated them with more recent discoveries—including details from Marco Polo’s voyages and the Portuguese trips around the Cape of Good Hope. The famous Waldseemuller map, which in 1507 depicted the Americas for the first time, appears to have borrowed heavily from Martellus.

To see the writing, researchers photographed the 6- by 4-foot map under 12 frequencies of light, from ultraviolet to infrared. Advanced imaging tools and layering techniques provided the necessary clarity. Below are examples of analyzed map images as viewed at different frequencies, and above is the map itself, with touch points identifying text uncovered by Van Duzer and his colleagues.

voyage of columbus map

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Moscow - Interactive map

Information about the map.

Check out the main monuments, museums, squares, churches and attractions in our map of Moscow. Click on each icon to see what it is.

To help you find your way once you get to your destination, the map you print out will have numbers on the various icons that correspond to a list with the most interesting tourist attractions. This way, you’ll be able to see where each attraction is.

Icons on the Moscow interactive map

The map is very easy to use:

  • Check out information about the destination: click on the color indicators.
  • Move across the map: shift your mouse across the map.
  • Zoom in: double click on the left-hand side of the mouse on the map or move the scroll wheel upwards.
  • Zoom out: double click on the right-hand side of the mouse on the map or move the scroll wheel downwards.

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voyage of columbus map

Where to eat

Vodka, caviar, borscht... the list of Russian delicacies goes on! Discover where, when and what to eat during your trip to Moscow.

General Information

Learn everything you need to know for your trip to Moscow, from visa requirements and currency to language tips and which plugs to bring! We'll try and answer all of your most frequently asked questions.

voyage of columbus map

Ontheworldmap.com

Large detailed map of Moscow

Large detailed map of Moscow

You may download, print or use the above map for educational, personal and non-commercial purposes. Attribution is required. For any website, blog, scientific research or e-book, you must place a hyperlink (to this page) with an attribution next to the image used.

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Best Driving Vacations 2024: Explore the Northern Shore of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

Here are some of the best ways to discover the up’s pictured rocks national lakeshore, by land and sea..

A sea cave at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

As spring breaks beckon and better weather is on the horizon, many thoughts turn to vacation destinations. With a focus on the creme de la creme — vital, accessible and unforgettable voyages that every central Ohio resident should put on his or her bucket list — we offer suggestions that will appeal to most everyone.

From a circle tour of “our Great Lake” to the architectural wonders of a modernist sister city three hours away, these four extraordinary adventures are wonderful ways to widen your horizons in 2024.

Today's installment is Part 1 of 4 destination packages from Columbus Monthly's annual travel guide. We hope you enjoy.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

With a combination of stunning views, maritime and geological history and a variety of outdoor activities, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore — the first National Lakeshore in the United States — is a long weekend retreat for outdoors enthusiasts. The eight-and-a-half-hour drive to Pictured Rocks may seem daunting, but it goes quickly, especially with the 75 mph speed limit on I-75, Michigan’s superhighway to the north. The journey provides glimpses of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, a drive over the nearly 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge , and many roadside places along the way to purchase whitefish, fudge and pasties (root vegetables and beef folded into a pastry shell). 

At Pictured Rocks, the waves and winds of Lake Superior have sculpted sandstone cliffs over millions of years, providing many stunning geological scenes. Visitors can experience sea caves, arches, turrets, spires and Chapel Rock, an iconic sandstone structure topped with a lone white pine, whose roots bridge it to the mainland.  

And day hiking opportunities are plenty, with 42 miles of hiking trails. You can explore sand dunes, streams and rivers feeding Lake Superior. Hardwood forests of hemlock, American beech, maple and white pine and wetlands and cedar glades provide a rich assortment of terrain for serious hikers and backpackers.  

There are a multitude of ways to experience the area, with perspectives (and colors) changing dramatically based on mode of transit.  

Explore Pictured Rocks by sea 

While the forests and some of the sculpted elements of Pictured Rocks can be appreciated by foot, the intricate layers of color staining the sandstone are best viewed from frigid Lake Superior. The Upper Peninsula is rich in minerals (which is why Michiganders claim they won the Toledo War in 1835-36, when their state gained the peninsula and Ohio retained Toledo). Iron, copper, manganese and limonite in the groundwater that spills through the cliffs provide deep reds and oranges, blue and green, brown and black, and white tints, respectively.  

An official concessionaire of the National Park Service, Pictured Rocks Cruises offers several two-and-a-half-hour trips a day, as well as a sunset cruise. An open upper-deck and congregation area on the back of the vessel allows for plenty of picture taking, though at some point, it’s good to put aside the phone and just take in the scenes. Tours include a jaunt to one of the boat-size sea caves, which invariably includes a dad joke about not knowing how to back out.  

Kayaking tours, which allow for a closer perspective of the cliffs, are also available through Pictured Rocks Kayaking . If the lake is choppy or it’s particularly windy (usually accompanied by a small craft advisory warning issued by the National Weather Service), the tour will be canceled and refunds will be issued.  

Finally, water-top views of the nearby Alger Underwater Preserve are offered through Glass Bottom Shipwreck Tours , based out of Munising, just west of Pictured Rocks. Boat tours include shipwreck sites, rock cliffs and caves, a historic lighthouse and views of Grand Island and Munising Bay. And be on the lookout for bald eagles that nest along the shoreline.   

See the sights of Pictured Rocks by land 

Backpacking Pictured Rocks takes considerably more planning and requires backcountry camping permits and campsite reservations, which go on sale for the year on Jan. 1. The trail runs along Lake Superior — sometimes on the beach and sometimes on cliffs, 50 to 200 feet above the water.

Exploring on foot provides opportunities not easily available otherwise. Stops along the way include Miners Beach and Miners Castle, Sevenmile Creek, Au Sable Light Station (completed in 1874), views of fish jumping upstream to spawn in Hurricane River, an opportunity to sit atop the 70-foot Spray Falls, and access to Grand Sable Dunes. And Lake Superior, with its Caribbean-esque color, is always a guide. (It’s difficult to get lost on this trek.) 

Driving logistics — which include securing a parking pass and booking a shuttle for the return to the car — should be sorted out in advance, as there is no cellphone service. And from May to October, bug spray (with DEET) and netting is essential to avoid the incessant mosquitos, stable flies and biting black flies of the area.  

Where to stay at Pictured Rocks

Pictured Rocks Inn and Suites won’t be the star of your Instagram posts, but the Munising hotel is clean, centrally located and boasts a friendly staff. For outdoor stays, Munising Tourist Park Campground is an expansive lakeside field (think: rows of tents and RVs) with car camping amenities such as showers, electricity and potable water. In addition to backcountry camping, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore offers three drive-in campgrounds at Little Beaver Lake, Twelvemile Beach and Hurricane River. picturedrocksinn.com , munisingtouristpark.com , nps.gov/piro   

Side trip to Marquette

About 45 miles away from Pictured Rocks is charming Marquette , the home of Northern Michigan University. Visit Lakenenland Sculpture Park , a free roadside attraction about 14 miles east of Marquette, with more than 100 whimsical sculptures created by iron welder Tom Lakenen. The park is never closed and can accommodate snowmobiles, vehicles and pedestrians. In Marquette proper, check out Blackrocks at Presque Isle Park, where (if you can summon the courage) you can join the college students in cliff jumping during the summer. Close the day with a stroll of downtown Marquette’s shops and a whitefish dinner at the historic Vierling Restaurant . travelmarquette.com   

This story is from the Best Driving Vacations package in the February 2024 issue of Columbus Monthly. 

Free topographic maps, elevation, terrain

Moscow topographic map

Interactive map.

Click on the map to display elevation .

About this map

Moscow topographic map, elevation, terrain

Name : Moscow topographic map, elevation, terrain.

Location : Moscow, Central Federal District, Russia ( 55.49131 37.29050 55.95777 37.96743 )

Average elevation : 528 ft

Minimum elevation : 351 ft

Maximum elevation : 843 ft

Moscow is situated on the banks of the Moskva River, which flows for just over 500 km (311 mi) through the East European Plain in central Russia, not far from the natural border of the forest and forest-steppe zone. 49 bridges span the river and its canals within the city's limits. The elevation of Moscow at the All-Russia Exhibition Center (VVC), where the leading Moscow weather station is situated, is 156 metres (512 feet). Teplostan Upland is the city's highest point at 255 metres (837 feet). The width of Moscow city (not limiting MKAD) from west to east is 39.7 km (24.7 mi), and the length from north to south is 51.8 km (32.2 mi).

Wikipedia ( CC-BY-SA 3.0 )

Meshchansky District

Russia  > Moscow  > Meshchansky District

Meshchansky District, Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow, Central Federal District, Russia

Tsaritsyno District topographic map, elevation, terrain

Tsaritsyno District

Russia  > Moscow  > Tsaritsyno District

Tsaritsyno District, Southern Administrative Okrug, Moscow, Central Federal District, Russia

Average elevation : 505 ft

Moskva River topographic map, elevation, terrain

Moskva River

Moskva River, Moscow, Central Federal District, 143059, Russia

Average elevation : 604 ft

COMMENTS

  1. Voyages of Christopher Columbus

    Captain's ensign of Columbus's ships. For his westward voyage to find a shorter route to the Orient, Columbus and his crew took three medium-sized ships, the largest of which was a carrack (Spanish: nao), the Santa María, which was owned and captained by Juan de la Cosa, and under Columbus's direct command. The other two were smaller caravels; the name of one is lost, but it is known by the ...

  2. Christopher Columbus Interactive Map

    Click on the world map to view an example of the explorer's voyage. How to Use the Map. After opening the map, click the icon to expand voyage information. You can view each voyage individually or all at once by clicking on the to check or uncheck the voyage information. Click on either the map icons or on the location name in the expanded ...

  3. Christopher Columbus

    The explorer Christopher Columbus made four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. His most famous was his first voyage, commanding the ships the Nina, the ...

  4. A 500-year-old map used by Columbus reveals its secrets

    This 1491 map is the best surviving map of the world as Christopher Columbus knew it as he made his first voyage across the Atlantic. In fact, Columbus likely used a copy of it in planning his ...

  5. Christopher Columbus

    Columbus kneeling to Queen Isabella II of Spain, who funded his New World journey. The Mariners' Museum 1950.0315.000001 Watercolor of Columbus's ships on his first voyage. His flagship was the "Santa Maria." The Mariners' Museum 1950.0695.000001 The Coat of Arms given to Columbus by the Spanish monarchs.

  6. Christopher Columbus All Four Voyages to the New World Map

    Christopher Columbus is one of the most significant figures in all of World History and is particularly important to major world events such as the Age of Exploration and Renaissance.His four famous journeys to the New World in the late 15th century and early 16th century altered the history of the world and led to a mass migration of people from the Old World to the New World.

  7. Christopher Columbus

    Christopher Columbus (born between August 26 and October 31?, 1451, Genoa [Italy]—died May 20, 1506, Valladolid, Spain) master navigator and admiral whose four transatlantic voyages (1492-93, 1493-96, 1498-1500, and 1502-04) opened the way for European exploration, exploitation, and colonization of the Americas. He has long been called the "discoverer" of the New World, although ...

  8. A 500-year-old map used by Columbus reveals its secrets

    Published 22 Oct 2018, 07:54 BST. This 1491 map is the best surviving map of the world as Christopher Columbus knew it when he made his first voyage across the Atlantic. In fact, Columbus probably used a copy of it in planning his journey. The map, created by the German cartographer Henricus Martellus, was originally covered with dozens of ...

  9. The Four Voyages of Columbus, 1492-1503

    Map of A map of the North Atlantic showing the routes, directions, and dates of the four voyages of Columbus, from 1492 to 1503. This map is color-coded to show the territories in Africa, South America, and Atlantic islands claimed by the Portuguese, and territories in the West Indies, South America, and Atlantic islands claimed by the Spanish.

  10. The Log of Christopher Columbus: A Map of His First Voyage

    Columbus Christopher (c. 1451 - 20 May 1506) A Genoese navigator, colonizer, and explorer, who in total had four transatlantic navigations, among which the most well-known voyage was the first ...

  11. Map of The Four Voyages of Columbus, 1492-1503

    A map showing the routes of the four voyages of Columbus, from 1492 to 1503. Maps > Globes and Multi-continent > Regional Maps >The Four Voyages of Columbus, 1492-1503 Site Map

  12. The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus

    Upon news of Columbus's arrest, the royal couple promptly freed and eventually allowed the adventurer to participate in a fourth voyage to the New World. For this journey, Columbus acquired four ships, as his goal was to find a western passage from the Caribbean to the Orient. While the first voyage of Columbus to the New World was smooth ...

  13. The First Voyage of Christopher Columbus (1492-1493)

    Having convinced the King and Queen of Spain to finance his voyage, Christopher Columbus departed mainland Spain on August 3, 1492. He quickly made port in the Canary Islands for a final restocking and left there on September 6. He was in command of three ships: the Pinta, the Niña, and the Santa María. Although Columbus was in overall ...

  14. Route of the First Voyage of Columbus, 1492

    Map of A map of the North Atlantic showing the outward and homeward routes of the first voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New World. The map shows the home port of Palos, Spain (Palos de la Frontera), and the route to the Canary Islands, the landing at the island of Guanahani or San Salvador Island, his southward route to Cuba and Haiti, and homeward route to Spain.

  15. Voyages of Christopher Columbus

    Christopher Columbus, the famous explorer who opened the way for European colonization of the Americas, is the subject of this Britannica article. Learn about his life, his voyages, his achievements, and his controversies in this comprehensive and authoritative overview.

  16. Voyages of Christopher Columbus

    Between 1492 and 1504, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus led four Spanish transatlantic maritime expeditions of discovery to the Americas. These voyages led to the widespread knowledge of the New World.

  17. Category : Maps of voyages by Christopher Columbus

    Chart of Suggested Landfall of Christopher Columbus Becher 1856.jpg 10,375 × 6,817; 27.17 MB. Christopher Colombus first voyage 1492-1493 map-fr.svg 1,922 × 1,256; 399 KB. Christopher Colombus second voyage 1493-1496 map-fr.svg 1,922 × 1,256; 399 KB. Christopher Colombus third voyage 1498-1500 map-fr.svg 1,922 × 1,256; 399 KB.

  18. Columbus' Voyage: Map and Ships

    Have the student draw a map of the area of Columbus' voyage (the Americas, Europe, etc.), using a pencil. As a guide, either use a large map of the world, or print out a map. The student can start by drawing the equator (a bit below the middle of the paper, since Columbus' voyage was in the Northern Hemisphere). Then draw North and South ...

  19. Did This Map Guide Columbus?

    The map itself is undated, but there are clues it was created in 1491: It quotes a book published that year, and Christopher Columbus may have consulted the map (or a copy) before his great voyage ...

  20. Google Maps

    Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

  21. Map of Moscow

    Icons on the Moscow interactive map. The map is very easy to use: Check out information about the destination: click on the color indicators. Move across the map: shift your mouse across the map. Zoom in: double click on the left-hand side of the mouse on the map or move the scroll wheel upwards. Zoom out: double click on the right-hand side of ...

  22. Large detailed map of Moscow

    Description: This map shows streets, roads, rivers, railways, points of interest and parks in Moscow.

  23. Gorgeous Views and Activities Abound on ...

    Best Driving Vacations 2024: Four Essential Road Trips Within a Day's Drive of Columbus Best Driving Vacations 2024: Explore the Northern Shore of Michigan's Upper Peninsula Best Driving ...

  24. Moscow topographic map, elevation, terrain

    About this map. Name: Moscow topographic map, elevation, terrain. Location: Moscow, Central Federal District, Russia ( 55.49131 37.29050 55.95777 37.96743) Average elevation: 528 ft. Minimum elevation: 351 ft. Maximum elevation: 843 ft. Moscow is situated on the banks of the Moskva River, which flows for just over 500 km (311 mi) through the ...