San Marino · 500th anniversary of the death of Christopher Columbus

Christoph Kolumbus was born in the Republic of Genoa and initially worked in Mediterranean and Atlantic trade. Based on the idea that Asia could be reached via a westward sea route across the Atlantic, he sought support for a corresponding expedition. Finally, Isabella von Kastilien and Ferdinand von Aragón financed the undertaking. Columbus thus served the Spanish Crown.

On his first voyage, he reached islands in the Caribbean in 1492. He believed the territories there to be part of Asia; European geographers only realized later that a separate continent lay between Europe and Asia. Kolumbus undertook a total of four Atlantic voyages, exploring further parts of the Caribbean as well as the coasts of Central America and northern South America. As governor in the newly claimed territories, he became involved in conflicts over his administration and was temporarily taken back to Spain.

The ships of his first voyage, frequently depicted together, were called *Niña*, *Pinta* and *Santa María*. Strictly speaking, only the first two were caravels. The larger *Santa María* was a different type of ship known as a nao. The compass rose generally refers to navigation and seafaring in an era when European powers were extending their spheres of trade and dominion across the Atlantic.

Kolumbus’s voyages marked the beginning of a lasting connection between Europe and America. The exchange of people, plants, animals and goods was followed by Spanish colonization, forced labor, violence and the spread of introduced diseases. These developments had devastating consequences for the Indigenous population of the Caribbean. Kolumbus is therefore viewed today not only as a seafarer, but also in the context of European colonial history.

No direct biographical connection between Kolumbus and San Marino is apparent. Rather, the round anniversary offered the microstate an internationally known historical occasion that also connected to Kolumbus’s origins in the Italian region.