The sleepy town of Getaria on the coast of Spain has a famous son. You may not have heard of him, I had not, but Juan Sebastian Elcano was the first person to circumnavigate the world in one voyage.
He was born in Getaria around 1486. One day he stepped out of this door, hopped on a ship and sailed off on a grand adventure…it is a bit more complicated than that, it was a convoluted journey to get to that stage, but he did live here.
I learned at school (many years ago) that Portuguese sailor, Ferdinand Magellan, was the first to sail around the world. He led the vogage in 1519 with a crew of 260 on 5 ships. Elcano eventually became captain of one of these, Victoria. (photo of the replica courtesy of Wikipedia)
Magellan might have been the first had he not been killed in the Philippines before the voyage was finished. There were mutinies, boat failures and many deaths before Elcano finished the vogage with what remained of the crew in September 1522.
All that is left of Elcano’s house in Getaria is a couple of crumbling walls, the front door and a sign.
Elcano returned home after just over 3 years at sea. Only 18 men from the original crew survived the journey. 4 Timorese (out of 13) also made it to Spain. The hold of Victoria was filled with much prized cloves and nutmeg.
A monument to the intrepid sailor stands proudly at the entrance to the old town. Next year will mark the 500th anniversary of this incredible journey.
What brave men these were to set off in small boats to explore the world!
Getaria has another famous son…next post.