A little over 500 years ago, Seville became the capital of the world, the reason: The New World, and the frontier men that saw all the opportunities that lie ahead.

Ferdinand of Magellan was one of those men. Belittled by King Manuel I of Portugal, Magellan literally apostatize his country and crossed the border to Castilla. But things weren’t easy, not at the beginning , nor at the end. Bureaucratic discrepancies, mistrust from the spaniards, lack of money and a long list of aggravating factors.

But lady luck sometimes smiles, and Magellan finally had an audience with the young king of Spain Charles V, future Emperor, and both sealed their fate with a handshake.

Meanwhile, king Manuel of Portugal was going berserk and did everything he can to prevent the expedition to ever set sail.

Eventually the will of the King Charles prevailed and on a warm morning, 10th august 1519, to be more precise, the adventure started. 237 sailors and 5 ships, of which only one completed the journey along with 18 rachitic men, their gaze was lost, they were traumatised with everything they saw lived through Thin, like no other man has ever been. So scrawny that it was believed to be a miracle, but in reality it was the human spirit and that sense of exploring whats beyond what moves us as species.

This adventure was so tough, so difficult and took such a big tall, that no one else dared to circumnavigate the planet for another 50 years.

But the circle was closed and Castilla, was in those days the strongest power the world had ever seen.

This is just one tiny little glimpse of the true length of it. If you want to know more about it, head to the Royal Indias Archive in Seville. Right now there is an tremendous exhibition regarding Magellan and the first circumnavigation of the planet. It’s completely free, and only closes on Monday.

For more info go to https://www.andalucia.org/es/turismo-cultural/visitas/sevilla/monumentos/archivo-general-de-indias/