Palos de la Frontera: Trail of the unexpected

Now voyager: the Portuguese village that was the cradle of the Americas

A silted-up river, running alongside an industrial town in southern Spain, is an unlikely starting point for one of the most significant voyages of discovery ever made. These days, it is easy to miss the river as you enter the village of Palos de la Frontera, six miles from Huelva. Five hundred years ago, however, life in Palos revolved around the water. It was a shipbuilding town, whose workers built the ships that took Christopher Columbus across the Atlantic towards America.

Now the village has the air of a place time has passed by. Only the monument in the middle of the square outside the church of St Jorge hints at the town's illustrious history. It commemorates "los marineros del Descubrimiento" – 35 local men who set sail with Columbus and discovered a continent.

Among the names recorded are the Pinzon brothers, Martin, Vicente and Francisco, who built and captained the caravels that accompanied Columbus on the first of his four voyages. As native sons of Palos, it is their achievement that is celebrated in the town, rather than that of the explorer himself, a foreigner who was born in Genoa. The brothers' birthplace, a 15th-century house up the road from the church, has been turned into a museum containing maps and documents from the time. There's a model of the Pinta, the ship captained by Martin Alonso Pinzon, and an inscription on the wall claims that this was the place where the discovery of America was planned.

Columbus was drawn towards Huelva as he searched for sponsorship for his journey. He believed it was possible to reach India and China by sailing west, rather than east, and he was looking for someone to fund a voyage that would put this theory to the test. The Portuguese king had refused; then Columbus discovered that the prior at the monastery of La Rabida, a mile or two along the river from Palos, might be able to help. Father Marchena had been part of the household of Queen Isabella, and was willing to help Columbus in his search for royal patronage.

The two men had many meetings at La Rabida, discussing Columbus's plans for the journey, and finally the king and queen were won over. In May 1492, a royal command was read out in front of the church at Palos. The people of the town were to put two armed caravels at the service of Columbus, and accompany him on the journey to the Indies. The Pinta and the Nina were built and a crew recruited, some from Palos, others from nearby Moguer. On 3 August 1492, the sailors went to pray in the church of St Jorge, as was traditional before a long voyage. They then left and went down to the quayside.

Columbus himself sailed in the Santa Maria, the largest of the three ships, which was paid for by the king and queen. After making it as far as the Bahamas and Cuba, it was wrecked in Hispaniola, the modern Haiti. The Nina and the Pinta sailed back to Palos. Nothing remains of them now. But at the Muelle de las Carabelas, the quayside below the monastery at La Rabida, there is a new museum containing reconstructions of the three ships, moored in an artificial lagoon.

"Los lugares Colombinos" – the places of Columbus, as Palos and La Rabida are known locally – are largely overlooked by visitors to Andalucia. But there are still monks at the monastery of La Rabida, who take visitors around, showing them the church where Columbus came to pray, and the chapel where Martin Pinzon is buried. The highlight is the Chapter House, where Columbus and Father Marchena held their meetings. This, the monks remind you, is the cradle of the Americas.

The Monastery at La Rabida (00 34 959 35 04 11) is open 10am-1pm (Sun from 10.45am) and 4pm-7pm; closed Mon. Muelle de las Caravelas (00 34 959 53 05 97) is open Tue-Fri 10am-2pm and 5pm-9pm; Sat, Sun 11am-8pm; closed Mon. The Casa-Museo Martin Alonso Pinzon is open daily 10.30am-1.30pm