The Victoria
First round-the-world ship.
Maula — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fernando de Gorocica — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gastón Cuello — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ulises Icardi — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Natifuzz — CC BY-SA 4.0
In San Julián bay Magellan's expedition spent the winter of 1520 on its search for a southern passage to the Spice Islands, with five ships, one of them the Victoria, the ship that later completed the first voyage around the world. Here too, the story goes, Europeans first met the native people and called them «Patagones», the origin of the name Patagonia. On the bay's shore today stands a full-size replica of the Victoria, now a theme museum that recreates how the ship was built and shows reproductions of everyday objects, navigation instruments and cannons, so visitors can picture life aboard a small wooden ship on a voyage that lasted three years. Guided tours run in succession through the day, for a small entry fee. San Julián is a quiet coastal town on National Route 3.
First round-the-world ship.
Tools and navigation.
Magellan's winter base.
Avenida General San Martín 135, on San Julián bay
Magellan's expedition wintered in its bay in 1520; the Victoria, replicated by the museum, was one of its ships.