To this day, tens of thousands of visitors come every year to sample the sulfur-smelling well water. In 1513, Ponce de Leon … These rumors conceivably reached the ears of Ponce de León, who is thought to have accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World in 1493. Having abandoned her practice as a physician in Chicago and gone to the Yukon during the Klondike gold rush of the 1890s, she purchased the Park property in 1904 from Henry H. Williams, a British horticulturalist, with cash and diamonds, for which she became known in St. Augustine as "Diamond Lil". Legend has it that explorer Juan Ponce de León learned from the Indians in the 1500's that Bimini was the site of the Fountain of Youth. Picture your Special Day at the Fountain of Youth on our 15 lush acres. Ponce de León was supposedly searching for the Fountain of Youth when he traveled to Florida in 1513. He searched up and down the coast for the mythical fountain. The court chronicler, who disliked Ponce de León, decided to portray him as a dim-witted, egocentric and gullible man. Did he really search for it, and if so, did he find it? We invite you to visit us for a fascinating, informative, entertaining tour of Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park, the original site of the Nation’s oldest city. Ponce de Leon and the Fountain of Youth The Myth Part of the Story Ponce de León heard of a magical Fountain of Youth on nearby Bimini Island. My family and I visited Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park on our 2nd day in St. Augustine, FL. Herrera states that local caciques paid regular visits to the fountain. [4] A similar account appears in Francisco López de Gómara's Historia general de las Indias of 1551. Stories of similar waters were also prominent among the people of the Caribbean during the Age of Exploration (early 16th century), who spoke of the restorative powers of the water in the mythical land of Bimini. Legend has it that Ponce de León was told by Native Americans that the Fountain of Youth was in Bimini. Its source is overshadowed by several gigantic magnolias, which, though numberless centuries old, have been kept as fresh as violets by the virtues of this wonderful water. Artists also got in on the act, including Thomas Moran, who painted an oversize canvas of Ponce de León meeting with Indians. Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, who lived with Indians in Florida for many years after surviving a shipwreck, also derided Ponce de León in his 1575 memoir, saying it was a cause for merriment that he sought out the Fountain of Youth. [8] While it is not known whether any legend about healing waters was widespread among the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, the Italian-born chronicler Peter Martyr attached such a story drawn from ancient and medieval European sources to his account of the 1514 voyage of Juan Diaz de Solis in a letter to the pope in 1516, though he did not believe the stories and was dismayed that so many others did. There were several instances of the property being used as an attraction as early as the 1860s; the tourist attraction in its present form was created by Luella Day McConnell in 1904. It measures approx 3 1/2" x 4 3/4", and has information / text on the back. Around the year 1909 she began advertising the attraction, charging admission, and selling post cards and water from a well dug in 1875 for Williams by Philip Gomez and Philip Capo. According to early historians, he anchored off the eastern coast of Florida on April 2 and came ashore a day later, choosing the name “La Florida” in part because it was the Easter season (Pascua Florida in Spanish). “You could trace that up until today,” said Ryan K. Smith, a history professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. It did not gain much traction in the United States, however, until the Spanish ceded Florida in 1819. Drink from the magical spring’s waters, plus explore many exhibits and historical attractions at the 15-acre Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park . Famous writers of the time such as Washington Irving then began portraying Ponce de León as hapless and vain. [citation needed] Magnesium, which has been shown to improve longevity and reproductive health,[6][7] is present in large quantities in the sea water. He became the island’s first governor a year later, but was soon pushed out in a power struggle with Christopher Columbus’ son Diego. During his expeditions in search of Gold in Puerto Rico, Ponce de … However, Ponce de León did not mention the fountain in any of his writings throughout the course of his expedition. . Guests will appreciate free perks like on-the-go breakfast and WiFi in public areas. He set sail for the island, but ended up on the coast of Florida instead. “My take on that is that no publicity is bad publicity,” Smith said. Although the indigenous peoples were probably describing the land of the Maya in Yucatán, the name—and legends about Boinca's fountain of youth—became associated with the Bahamasinstead. “From everything I can gather, he was not at all interested or believed that he would find some kind of miraculous spring or lake or body of water.” At least one historian suggests that perhaps Ferdinand, who had recently married a woman 35 years his junior, told Ponce de León to keep his eye out for it. These digs revealed a large number of Christianized Timucua burials. Holds Ponce de Leon’s Spring of Eternal Hope, flowing forth for centuries. The Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park contains centuries of history on its 15 acres and sign-ins from visitors dating back to 1868. This card is in VG to EX condition. Based on these many legends, explorers and adventurers looked for the elusive Fountain of Youth or some other remedy to aging, generally associated with magic waters. But other experts dispute this. ", The connection was made in Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés's Historia general y natural de las Indias of 1535,[11] in which he wrote that Ponce de León was looking for the waters of Bimini to regain youthfulness. As attested by his royal charter, Ponce de León was charged with discovering the land of Beniny. A spring that supposedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters, Kohanski, Tamarah & Benson, C. David (Eds. “He’s a household name, and maybe in the end that’s what he was looking for.”. The Park is wheelchair accessible. Arabic and Aljamiado versions of the Alexander Romance were very popular in Spain during and after the period of Moorish rule, and would have been known to the explorers who journeyed to America. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. A garden, a picnic area, an… In his Memoir he tells of the curative waters of a lost river he calls "Jordan" and refers to de León looking for it. By contrast, specific instructions were given for subjugating the Indians and divvying up any gold found. By the early 20th century, a statue of the explorer had been placed in the central plaza of Florida’s oldest city, St. Augustine, and a nearby tourist attraction pretended to be the actual Fountain of Youth. These earlier accounts inspired the popular medieval fantasy The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, which also mentions the Fountain of Youth as located at the foot of a mountain outside Polombe (modern Kollam[2]) in India. St. Augustine is home to 1305 hotels and other accommodations, so you can find something that's perfect for your stay. The Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park contains centuries of history on its 15 acres and sign-ins from visitors dating back to 1868. My teeth are falling out, my hair is thinning, my ass barely fits in my pantaloons. There are countless indirect sources for the tale as well. In 1601 he penned a detailed and widely read account of Ponce de León’s first voyage. Eight years later, Ponce de León returned to Florida’s southwestern coast in an attempt to establish a colony, but he was mortally wounded by an Indian arrow. Ponce de León, Juan The expedition of Juan Ponce de León searching for the Fountain of Youth in Florida in 1513. He landed in Charlotte Harbor near present-day St. Augustine. 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