Cuba Insula et Iamaica

Columbus and Cuba

The name Cuba comes from the language of the Taíno. The exact meaning of the name is unclear, but it can be translated as “where the fertile soil is plentiful” or as “great place” (coabana).

On his maiden voyage, Columbus also visited the northeast coast of Cuba, where he landed on October 28, 1492. So Columbus landed first in Cuba and then on Hispaniola. On his second voyage he arrived there on April 30, 1494 and the island of Juana. He then explored the Southern coast – he assumed Cuba was a peninsula – and some small islands, including parts of the great Y. de Pinas, later known as La Evangelista and now Isla de la Juventud. In 1512, Diego Velázquez founded Cuéllar Baracoa, the first Spanish settlement on the island (seen on the east side). Havana was probably not founded until around 1519 and became the capital of this Spanish colony less than a century later, in 1607. Its name is derived from the Native American leader Habaguanex. In the southeast, a wide nameless bay opens up which is currently known as Guantanamo. Columbus traveled further into smaller Jamaica on his second voyage on May 5, 1494. The Taíno Indians called the island Xaymaca, land of forests and water. The first Spanish settlement here was Seville (top center), which reed was abandoned around 1524 because it was considered too unhealthy. Then in Oristan (now called Bluefields), where the Spaniards established a short-lived settlement in 1509, some crumbled walls remain. Riet in 1655 the English took over this colony from the Spaniards.