Spanish galleon open to visitors at Quayside

VISITORS can step on board a beautiful Spanish galleon - a replica of the first ship to circumnavigate the globe which is now moored in Newcastle for a near two-week stay.

- BARBARA HODGSON

The eye-catching Nao Victoria, opposite Greggs on the Quayside, will be open each day to visitors until July 27.

And the small and atmospheric wooden vessel is out to bring alive the story of the 16th-century original, an explorer ship at a time the world was thought to be flatwhich had set out to find possible new trade routes and then opened up another world of possibilities.

Marina Quesada, who is in charge of logistics and daily running of the museum ship, explains that the Nao Victoria was part of famous Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan's expedition to the Spice Islands, on a quest for the likes of precious pepper, ginger and cinnamon.

It was one of five ships, carrying a combined total of almost 250 men, to set sail west from Seville in 1519, not knowing the world was round, and it was missing for two years during which time it had sailed around the globe before becoming the only one to make it back, with 80 crew.

And the replica its name is the Spanish for ‘victory’ with the ‘nao’ being an old term for a ship of that period has followed its famous journey too.