Christopher Columbus

El Puerto de Santa María played a central role in the preparation of the voyages that culminated in the Discovery of America.

Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón) stayed in the Castle of San Marcos for two years under the protection of the Duke of Medinaceli.
During this time, Colón and Juan de la Cosa, a cartographer and navigator, designed and established their westward route to the Indies.

The same walls that we now see in the tour of the Castle of San Marcos housed Cristóbal Colón and Juan de la Cosa over 800 years ago before they set sail for the Indies and discovered the New World.

Today, the Castle of San Marcos has a mosaic of the first world map including the American coasts.