Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Torun, Poland on February 19, 1473. From the ancient Greeks, everyone in Europe believed that the Earth was the centre of the universe. The great work of Copernicus De revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres), published in 1543, showed that the sun was at the center. You can see evidence of this yourself with binoculars or a small telescope. Both…
In 1553 French pirates attacked Santa Cruz de La Palma, so they built a small fort to defend the town from future attacks. This was just a platform with a tower, and it was destroyed by flooding during a storm in 1671. In 1676 work started on the current fort, and it was finished in 1701. It’s nothing like the tower of London, but then it didn’t need to be….
In 1553 French pirates attacked Santa Cruz de La Palma, so they built a small fort to defend the town from future attacks. This was just a platform with a tower, and it was destroyed by flooding during a storm in 1671. In 1676 work started on the current fort, and it was finished in 1701. It’s nothing like the tower of London, but then it didn’t need to be….
The Tazacote martytrs have an unusual memorial – 18m underwater at Malpique, the site where they drowned. There are 40 crosses, one for each of the victims. The memorial was created in 2000, and I’m told that it’s easy to visit even for novice divers. The photo was taken by Christian Carlos Tdo. Rguez who is a local diving instructor and ecologist. He has a blog in Spanish (with excellent photos)…
The Tazacote martytrs have an unusual memorial – 18m underwater at Malpique, the site where they drowned. There are 40 crosses, one for each of the victims. The memorial was created in 2000, and I’m told that it’s easy to visit even for novice divers. The photo was taken by Christian Carlos Tdo. Rguez who is a local diving instructor and ecologist. He has a blog in Spanish (with excellent photos)…
In 1570, a party of Jesuit missionaries were on their way from Portugal to Brazil. They broke their journey in Puerto de Tazacorte. It was an unplanned stop: they’d been heading for Santa Cruz de la Palma, but the winds were against them. On arrival in Tazacorte, Fr. Acevedo was amazed to find that the owner of the estate was an old friend from Oporto, don Melchor de Monteverde y…