Nueva Cádiz

Nueva Cadiz was one of the first Spanish cities in America today are the remains of a national memorial Venezuela.

The village lies in a bay on the northeast coast of the island Cubagua. This island is 16 km off the mainland and south of the larger Isla Margarita.

1498 Christopher Columbus reached the island, which was famous for its oyster beds and its wealth of pearls since ancient times. Already in 1500 built Spanish pearls viewfinder a camp which they called Santiago de Cubagua. Many enslaved by the Spanieren Indians lost their lives in the Perlensucherei under inhuman working conditions.

Cristóbal Guerra erected here 1526/28 the City " La Villa de la Nueva Cadiz" was the first Spanish city in Venezuela and one of the first in America. The place has become synonymous with the oppression of the Hispanic Conquistadores in South America.

From 1531 the beads occurrence is exhausted, in the following years, the fishing became important.

The town had reached a population from 1000 to 1500, when it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1541 and the following tsunami.

Since 1979, the ruins are protected as a National Monument of Venezuela.

10.823888888889 - 64.166666666667Koordinaten: 10 ° 49 'N, 64 ° 10' W