The legend of buried treasures in ancient shipwrecks became reality when a 350-year-old sunken Spanish galleon was uncovered. The trove of artifacts included coins, priceless jewels, and gemstones of seafaring knights.
The History:
The Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas (or Our Lady of Wonders) sank in 1656 after colliding with another boat from its fleet and crashing into a coral reef off the Bahamas. It was carrying a haul of treasure and contained more cargo than usual.
It has some treasures reserved as royal tax for King Philip IV, from Cuba to Seville, Spain. It also had the task of transporting retrieved treasure from another ship that had sunk two years earlier.
The Expedition:
Several successful attempts of retrieving the vessel’s cargo were done between the 1650s to 1990s. Almost 3.5 million items were recovered in these expeditions.
The latest discoveries are going on display this month at the New Bahamas Maritime Museum. The fresh display offers insight into the life on the ship.
James Sinclair, marine archaeologist, said in a press release that the researchers, working with archaeologists, local divers, and other experts are in the process of “reconstructing the mystery of how the ship was wrecked and fell apart.”
With the use of remote-sensing technology, like sonar and magnetometers, “a long and winding debris trail of finds scattering over 13 kilometers over the ocean floor” was found by Allen Exploration.
Pendants:
There was a 1.76-meter-long gold filigree chain and many bejeweled pendants belonging to knights of the Order of Santiago- a centuries-old military and religious order. One of the gold pendants had a large oval Colombian emerald with a dozen of smaller emeralds. This, according to experts, represents the 12 apostles, alongside the Cross of St. James.
There were three more knightly pendants discovered. One of which was shaped to look like a scallop shell of gold.
“When we brought up the oval emerald and gold pendant, my breath caught in my throat. How these tiny pendants survived in these harsh waters, and how we managed to find them, is the miracle of the Maravillas.”- Allen said.
Other items:
The other priceless artifacts recovered shed a light on the daily life of the Maravillas, which sailed during the “Spanish Golden Age”. It included Chinese porcelain and olive jars, and silver sword handles.
The items that are discovered by Allen’s team will be permanently kept at the Bahamas Maritime Museum. It opens on August 8 in the second-largest city, Freeport.
Sinclair believes that there may yet be more discoveries to be made.
“The ship may have been obliterated by past salvage and hurricanes … But we’re convinced there are more stories out there”
