La Navidad ("The Nativity", i.e. Christmas) was a Spanish fort that

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

and his crew established on the northwest coast of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

(near what is now Caracol, Nord-Est Department,

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

) in 1492 from the remains of the Spanish ship the '' Santa María''. La Navidad was the first European colony established in the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

during the

Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery (), also known as the Age of Exploration, was part of the early modern period and overlapped with the Age of Sail. It was a period from approximately the 15th to the 17th century, during which Seamanship, seafarers fro ...

, although it was destroyed by the native

Taíno people The Taíno are the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, Indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles and surrounding islands. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now The ...

by the following year.

Founding

Columbus sailed around the island of

on Christmas Eve of 1492, during his first voyage. One of his ships, the ''Santa María'', drifted onto a bank of the Acul Bay and heeled over. After hearing from Guacanagari that there was much gold to be had on the island, Columbus decided that he would leave the crew of his wrecked vessel to make a settlement on the island and gather the promised gold. He ordered the ship dismantled to provide the building materials for a small fortress: "I have ordered a tower and fortress to be constructed and, a large cellar, not because I believe there is any necessity on account of he natives" he noted in his journal. "I am certain the people I have with me could subjugate all this island... as the population are naked and without arms and very cowardly." Columbus called the port ''Puerto de la Navidad'' ("Christmas Port"), the day he landed there. He appointed Diego de Arana, chief constable of the fleet and son of Rodrigo, Pedro Gutiérrez, butler of the Spanish royal

dais A dais or daïs ( or , American English also but sometimes considered nonstandard)dais
in the Random House Dictionary< ...

, and Rodrigo de Escobedo to govern the fortress of 36 men. They included carpenters, calkers, a physician, a tailor, and a gunner. Additionally, the settlement was supplied with provisions, trading goods, arms and artillery. On Friday, 4 January 1493, Columbus set sail in the ''Niña'' in search of the third ship in the fleet, the ''Pinta''. The ''Pinta'' was commanded by Martín Alonzo Pinzón, and had been absent for six weeks. On the night of 21 November, the

caravel The caravel (Portuguese language, Portuguese: , ) is a small sailing ship developed by the Portuguese that may be rigged with just lateen sails, or with a combination of lateen and Square rig, square sails. It was known for its agility and s ...

''Pinta'' had vanished into the darkness off the coast of Cuba, and in his journal Columbus accused Pinzón of deliberately having separated the ''Pinta'' from the other ships in order to beat the admiral to the rich sources of gold which Columbus imagined were in the immediate area. Even more disquieting was his fear that Pinzón might break for Spain in the fast-sailing ''Pinta'' to be the first to bring news of the discovery to the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Isabella I of Castile, Queen Isabella I of Crown of Castile, Castile () and Ferdinand II of Aragon, King Ferdinand II of Crown of Aragón, Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of ...

and to "tell them lies" about the admiral's conduct of the expedition. On Sunday morning, 6 January 1493, the missing ''Pinta'' was spotted approaching from the east, and after a heated argument between the two men, the fleet returned to gather people and supplies for a return voyage.

Destruction

When Columbus returned to Navidad on 27 Nov 1493, his second voyage from Spain, he "found it burned to the ground ... nobody in the vicinity." In the fields nearby, however, he discovered the "bodies of eight Christians." Columbus later discovered that, soon after his departure, his "men began to quarrel among themselves, each taking as many women and as much gold as he could." Gutiérrez and Escobedo left with nine others, along with their women, for the gold mines. However, the "lord of the mines" turned, killed them and then marched back to Navidad, defended by Arana with ten others, and Guacanagari.

Caonabo Caonabo (died 1496) was a Taíno ''cacique'' (chieftain) of Hispaniola at the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival to the island. He was known for his fighting skills and his ferocity. He was married to Anacaona, who was the sister of another ...

set fire to houses, forcing Columbus' men into the sea, where eight drowned, and three were killed onshore. Columbus decided to build a settlement farther east in present-day Dominican Republic and named it

La Isabela La Isabela in Puerto Plata Province, Dominican Republic was the first stable Spanish settlement and town in the Americas established in December 1493. The site is 42 km west of the city of Puerto Plata, adjacent to the village of El Cast ...

after Queen Isabella I.

Attempt at rediscovery

After Columbus sailed away a second time, the site apparently was forgotten until a Haitian farmer led William Hodges to a location in 1977. Hodges, an amateur archaeologist and American medical missionary, received permission from the Haitian government to excavate a tennis-court-size section of the marshland, and he and his helpers found some artifacts of La Navidad. Despite the finds, no conclusive evidence has been discovered yet to pinpoint the exact location of La Navidad.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Navidad Spanish West Indies 1490s in the Caribbean 1490s in the Spanish West Indies History of the Colony of Santo Domingo Archaeology of Haiti Populated places in Haiti Populated places established in the 1490s 1492 establishments in North America 1493 disestablishments Former Spanish colonies Spanish colonization of the Americas Populated places disestablished in the 15th century

Founding

Destruction

Attempt at rediscovery

See also

References