Nueva Cadiz was the first city in the new world (America) and is located on the Island of Cubagua (Venezuela). It was established in 1500 by the Italian sailor in the service of Carlos V Giacomo Castiglione (Hispanicized as Santiago Castellón) as a temporary camp for the exploitation of the pearl fisheries. Fray Bartolomé de las Casas wrote that, in 1500, only two years after his sighting, there w
ere already 50 adventurers in Cubagua who were eagerly searching for the precious mother-of-pearl gems used by the natives in their personal ornament. After the great indigenous insurrection of 1520, that caused the abandonment of the island, this one returned to take care of and in 1526 was elevated to the category of Villa with the denomination "Villa de Santiago de Cubagua", although apparently never used this title . Finally, 13 of September of 1528 by means of a real cedula promulgated by the emperor Carlos V, it was granted the rank of city, it was endowed with coat of arms and its name was changed to him of "New Cadiz". This site is the first town founded by the Spaniards in South America, and as city, is considered the first city of America. In its heyday, the income received by Spain from the pearl fishery was matched in monetary value to that supplied by gold from Peru. At that time, Nueva Cadiz not only had a large population of Spaniards and Indians - the latter, forced to work as divers in the collection of pearls - but also of black slaves brought from the African "factories". Nueva Cádiz was also the object of pirate attacks such as those of Diego Ingenios and Jacques de Sores, who besieged the village and came to capture their governor, Francisco Velázquez. But various natural calamities such as the possible earthquake and followed by a hurricane in 1541, the destruction of the ostrals, the discovery of ostrales in the Guajira and the gradual death of the exploited natives (due to the inhuman conditions of extraction in pearls) , Contributed to the fact that the city and the island were abandoned in their entirety by the Spaniards, although there are records indicating that the island was populated for some time. Some catastrophic accounts would ensure that half the island sank due to an earthquake, followed by a tsunami, so it is possible that a part of this city is submerged in the Caribbean Sea. Such theses have not been totally discarded by historians, since underwater searches have not been conclusive on the spot....
Nueva Cadiz fue el sitio de la primera colonización europea en América del Sur en 1500, la ciudad de la perla de Nueva Cádiz.. La ciudad fue finalmente destruida por una ola y abandonada en 1541. Hoy en día la isla árida es el hogar de sólo unos pocos campos de pesca itinerante. Charagato Bay, en el lado norte de la isla, es un lugar muy guay para bucear - figurativa y literalmente. Gracias a la influencia de una trinchera oceánica cercana, el agua de la bahía se mantiene en la parte superior de los años 60 a 70 durante todo el año y todavía es posible encontrar ostras aquí. Ruinas del pasado se pueden encontrar en el lado oriental.
