The Life of a Boat That Travelled Round The World

Discover the story of the Nao Victoria, the first boat to travel round the world between 1519 and 1522.

By Nao Victoria Foundation

Fundación Nao Victoria

The Nao Victoria Foundation Exhibition SpaceNao Victoria Foundation

Find out all about the first circumnavigation of the world, narrated by one of the story's main characters—the Nao Victoria.

In this exhibition, the ship itself will take you through the preparations for the expedition, the enormity of the voyage, the events that took place, the dangers faced, the harshness of life on board, and the huge consequences of the biggest maritime adventure in history.

The Nao VictoriaNao Victoria Foundation

I am the Nao Victoria. An old boat that made the first trip around the world, 500 years ago. Let me tell you my story, the biggest maritime adventure of all time.

I was the first to sail around the globe,
My sails are my wings,
My reward, glory,
My struggle, the sea.

Trees from northern SpainNao Victoria Foundation

My Beginnings (1492–1510)

My story begins in the forests of the north, where my body grew strong and proud over the years as an oak tethered to the earth.

For me, the sea was a distant sound, and the winds were still without names.

I was a tree at the time the people of my country set off across the ocean to change the world.

As my wood matured, the Age of Discovery was beginning at the end of the 14th century.

The world was a planet with still unknown oceans and where the Portuguese and Spanish were exploring new sea routes to the Far East to gain access to the origins of valuable spices.

The Keel of the Nao VictoriaNao Victoria Foundation

One day an ax and saw turned me into keel, stern, and sternpost. Wise hands sculpted my hull. They respected my soul, and piece by piece they made me into a beautiful boat of legend. They gave me wings and put me to sea.

A sea where sailors dreamt of discovering a hidden route to the New World and of the glory of reaching the East from the West.

The Nao Victoria Foundation Exhibition SpaceNao Victoria Foundation

The Challenge (1518–23)

I sailed the seas for years, earning the respect of sailors, until a man with a crazy, brilliant idea chose me to voyage to the end of the world. From then, Seville was my port, Magellan my captain, and Victoria my name.

The Nao Victoria Foundation Exhibition SpaceNao Victoria Foundation

Five boats were brought together in Seville to quickly become my fleet. There, we were repaired and men came aboard. We were called the Armada del Maluco—the armada of the impossible journey—the one that wanted to reach the East from the West.

We were the vanguard. Revolutionary ships filled with the knowledge and technology of a whole era.

Ships were bought and repaired for 16 months, and I was one of them. Enough provisions were stored for two years, and a crew of 245 men was recruited, with different trades and 10 different nationalities.

Ferdinand MagellanNao Victoria Foundation

On August 10, 1519, I set sail from Seville bound for a unknown, small, and ancient world with Ferdinand Magellan as my captain.

Bound for a world full of unknowns. Set for the South. Set for the West. Set for the unknown. My sails were my wings.

The expedition routeNao Victoria Foundation

In the Atlantic, we were trapped by calm waters and endured storms and headwinds that put our timbers and rigging to the test. The first part of the voyage was so bad that the Nao San Antonio deserted the fleet. On their return to Seville, the crew were tried for treason.

We were a fleet of five boats, and together we voyaged further south than had ever been explored before. We discovered and named The Magellan Strait.

We sailed to the west, turning that unsailed sea, into the greatest ocean on Earth. We called it the Pacific. We were the first: Trinidad, Concepción, and Victoria, etc. The ocean was filled with a thousand islands, a thousand worlds, a thousand wars and times of peace.

Captain Magellan died in the Philippines, and Juan Sebastián Elcano replaced him, taking us on to the Moluccas Islands. There, we loaded up with spices.

I entered the Indian Ocean alone, and, fleeing people and war, I sailed nonstop across the unexplored great south, opening up new routes. I fought the Roaring Forties (gale-force, west-to-east currents) and found only ocean. West, west west, to the end of the world!

At the Cape of Storms or Good Hope, I was broken by storms, my sails blown out, and death came to my deck. Inexplicable human resilience kept me afloat. I returned to the Atlantic but found no solace there either.

Juan Sebastián ElcanoNao Victoria Foundation

I arrived back in Seville exhausted. It is said that I had 18 men on board, Juan Sebastián Elcano as captain, and a treasure trove of spices in my hold.

I brought a whole new world with me, a world that could be sailed, with connected oceans and an accurate route. In my hold, I was carrying a new era.

I had sailed 37,753 nautical miles, the greatest seafaring feat ever recorded.

The Nao Victoria Foundation Exhibition SpaceNao Victoria Foundation

I was the first to have the whole world in my wake. Today, my journey is legendary. A challenge for every traveller and captain.

On my return, the South American continent was drawn, the Pacific Ocean sized, the Phillipines and Mariana Islands figured on maps, the Cape Route opened up, the three oceans were connected, the true size of the Earth became known, and humankind became aware of the planet it inhabits.

Credits: Story

Text and images: Fundación Nao Victoria (the Carrack Victoria Foundation)
Digital design: Bosco Bueno

This exhibition is part of the First Voyage Around the World project.

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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