Nueva Cádiz is an archaeological site and former

port town A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

on Cubagua, off the coast of

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. First established in 1500 as a seasonal settlement, by 1515 it had become a year-round permanent town. it was one of the first European settlements in the Americas. The settlement was given the name Nueva Cádiz when it was incorporated as a city in 1528.

History

As early as 1502,

ranchería The Spanish word ranchería, or rancherío, refers to a small, rural settlement. In the Americas the term was applied to Indigenous peoples of the Americas, native villages or bunkhouses. Anglo-Americans adopted the term with both these meaning ...

s were established on Cubagua, occupied for 3–4 months each year during trading. The island was of particular interest because of its rich

pearl oyster ''Pinctada'' is a genus of saltwater oysters, marine bivalve mollusks in the family Pteriidae. These pearl oysters have a strong inner shell layer composed of nacre, also known as "mother of pearl". Pearl oysters are not closely related to ...

beds. Eventually, the settlement became permanent and, by 1520, after the great Indian uprising, its resident population surpassed 300. On September 12, 1528 by a royal decree issued by

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

, Nueva Cádiz was incorporated and became a city named Nueva Cádiz. It became the first Spanish town in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. By 1530 Nueva Cádiz had a population of 223 Europeans and 700 natives. At its peak (around 1535), it had over 1500 people. The depletion of the

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

oyster beds, however, became increasingly acute, causing the Spaniards to limit pearl production. In combination with the discovery of new pearl oyster beds on the

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, this led to a decline of Nueva Cádiz. By 1539 there were less than 50 people left on Cubagua. After a hurricane destroyed the remaining buildings in 1541, the colony was completely abandoned. The ruins, which are partly submerged beneath the sea, were declared a National Monument of Venezuela in 1979. In the 1950s and 1960s the area was examined by José María Cruxent who published works such as ''Nueva Cádiz, testimonio de piedra'' (1955) and ''Cubagua y el poblamiento oriental de Venezuela en las comienzos'' (1961) on Nueva Cádiz. The Museo de Nueva Cádiz in

La Asunción LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

contains relics unearthed at this site.

In popular culture

In 2015 Venezuelan director Jorge Thielen Armand made a short documentary about the ruins of Nueva Cádiz and the island of Cubagua, ''Flor de la Mar''.

History

In popular culture

See also

References

Further reading