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OnBouge

On the routes of the great navigators

From the 15th to the 18th century, the great navigators — Portuguese, Spanish and French — linked the continents. OnBouge follows their passage, city by city: where they were born, where they landed, founded a trading post or opened a route. From the French-Portuguese diaspora to the New World, at quayside level.

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🧭 OnBouge, in the manner of the great navigators

Yesterday they set out to link the continents. Today it is we who sail out to discover the world — to show you unforgettable journeys, city by city, and to help you avoid the traps a stranger may meet along the way.

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Henri le Navigateur 1394–1460 · PortugalThe instigator — school of Sagres, patron of the African expeditions.
  • 1420 Sagres / Lagos (Portugal)
    School of navigation and caravels: the starting point of the Discoveries.
  • 1415 Ceuta (Morocco)
    First Portuguese overseas conquest: the gateway to Africa.
  • 1419 Funchal (Madère) (Portugal)
    Rediscovery and settlement of Madeira (Zarco).
  • 1456 Praia (Cabo Verde) (Cabo Verde)
    Cape Verde archipelago reached: key stopover towards the South Atlantic.
  • 1482 Elmina (Ghana)
    São Jorge da Mina: first European fort in sub-Saharan Africa.
Bartolomeu Dias v.1450–1500 · PortugalFirst to round the Cape of Good Hope (1488).
  • 1488 Cap de Bonne-Espérance (South Africa)
    The cape rounded: the Indian Ocean opens to Europe.
Vasco de Gama v.1469–1524 · PortugalFirst sea route Europe→India (1497–1499).
  • 1497 Lisbonne (Belém) (Portugal)
    Departure for India from the Tagus — the Belém tower as witness. · see the city on OnBouge →
  • 1498 Île de Mozambique (Mozambique)
    First Portuguese stopover on the Swahili coast.
  • 1498 Mombasa (Kenya)
    A tense stop on the spice route.
  • 1498 Malindi (Kenya)
    A local pilot guides the fleet to the Indies.
  • 1498 Calicut (Kozhikode) (India)
    Arrival in the Indies: the sea route of spices is open.
Pedro Álvares Cabral v.1467–1520 · PortugalOfficial discovery of Brazil (1500).
  • 1500 Porto Seguro (Brazil)
    Official discovery of Brazil — birth of the Luso-Brazilian world.
Afonso de Albuquerque 1453–1515 · PortugalBuilder of the maritime empire: Goa, Malacca, Hormuz.
  • 1510 Goa (India)
    Capital of Portuguese India for four centuries.
  • 1511 Malacca (Malaysia)
    The lock on trade between the Indian Ocean and the China seas.
  • 1515 Ormuz (Iran)
    Control of the entrance to the Persian Gulf.
  • 1557 Macao (China)
    Portuguese trading post in China — a Europe-Asia bridge for four centuries.
Fernand de Magellan v.1480–1521 · PortugalFirst circumnavigation (1519–1522, completed by Elcano).
  • 1520 Détroit de Magellan (Chile)
    Passage between Atlantic and Pacific at the end of America.
  • 1521 Cebu (Mactan) (Philippines)
    Magellan dies here; the expedition will complete the first circumnavigation.
Jacques Cartier 1491–1557 · FranceDiscoverer of Canada: Gulf of St Lawrence, Gaspé (1534), Stadacona (Quebec) and Hochelaga (Montreal).

⚓ Born in Saint-Malo (1491) · their home town on OnBouge →

  • 1534 Saint-Malo (France)
    Departure for the New World from the Breton corsair port. · see the city on OnBouge →
  • 1534 Gaspé (Canada)
    Cross planted at Gaspé: Canada claimed in the name of Francis I.
  • 1535 Québec (Stadaconé) (Canada)
    Sailing up the St Lawrence to the site of Quebec. · see the city on OnBouge →
  • 1535 Hochelaga (Montréal) (Canada)
    Visit to the Iroquoian village at the foot of Mont Royal.
Samuel de Champlain v.1567–1635 · FranceFather of New France: founder of Quebec (1608).

⚓ Born in Brouage (1567) · their home town on OnBouge →

Jean-François de La Pérouse 1741–1788 · FranceGreat scientific expedition of the Pacific (1785-1788), lost at Vanikoro.

⚓ Born in Albi (1741) · their home town on OnBouge →

  • 1741 Albi (France)
    Born at the château du Gô, on the banks of the Tarn. · see the city on OnBouge →
  • 1786 Baie de Lituya (Alaska) (United States)
    Surveys on the north-west coast of America.
  • 1787 Macao (China)
    Asian stopover of the scientific expedition.
  • 1788 Botany Bay (Australia)
    Last known stop before the Vanikoro shipwreck.
Louis-Antoine de Bougainville 1729–1811 · FranceFirst French circumnavigation (1766-1769); Tahiti, the Pacific.

⚓ Born in Paris (1729) · their home town on OnBouge →

  • 1729 Paris (France)
    Birth of the future first French circumnavigator. · see the city on OnBouge →
  • 1767 Détroit de Magellan (Chile)
    Passage to the Pacific at the end of America.
  • 1768 Tahiti (French Polynesia)
    The stop that inspired the myth of the « noble savage ».
Christophe Colomb 1451–1506 · Spain (Castile)Crossing of the Atlantic (1492): first Europe-America link for the Crown of Castile.

⚓ Born in Gênes (origine) (1451)

  • 1492 Palos de la Frontera (Spain)
    Departure of the three caravels (Pinta, Niña, Santa María). · see the city on OnBouge →
  • 1492 San Salvador (Guanahani) (Bahamas)
    First landing in the New World.
  • 1492 La Española (Hispaniola) (Haiti / Dominican Rep.)
    Founding of the first European settlement.
Juan Sebastián Elcano v.1487–1526 · SpainFirst to complete the round-the-world voyage (1519-1522), after Magellan's death.

⚓ Born in Getaria (1487) · their home town on OnBouge →

Vasco Núñez de Balboa 1475–1519 · SpainFirst European to see the Pacific Ocean (1513, Isthmus of Panama).

⚓ Born in Jerez de los Caballeros (1475) · their home town on OnBouge →

  • 1475 Jerez de los Caballeros (Spain)
    A town of Extremadura, cradle of conquistadors. · see the city on OnBouge →
  • 1510 Darién (Santa María la Antigua) (Panama)
    First permanent town on the American mainland.
  • 1513 Mar del Sur (Pacifique) (Panama)
    Discovery of the Pacific Ocean from the isthmus.

Is a city of the world where a navigator left his mark still missing? Tell us — OnBouge will create it as a priority.

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