In all of his years sailing the open seas and exploring the various continents of the globe, the one thing that Christopher Columbus seemingly forgot to leave behind was a map of his explorations. Fortunately for history buffs and passionate cartographers around the globe, Juan de la Cosa did. Sailing with Columbus on three of his journeys, Juan de la Cosa left the world with the oldest known map that shows the Americas. The Map of Juan de la Cosa has been dated to the year 1500 and even includes information from the then recent voyages of Vasco de Gama to India in 1498. The map is drawn on ox-hide and can be admired at the Naval Museum of Madrid.

Museum Naval, 5 Paseo del Prado, Madrid, Spain 28014, Phone: +3-49-13-79-50-56

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