MEDITERRANEAN REDNECK

 A LITTLE TOWN ALWAYS HAS A BIG HISTORY

JOHN J POLO 

 

 They say in Spain that a little town always has a big history. Normally on the balconies of the town halls of the cities and towns of Spain three flags always wave.
These flags are: that of Spain, that of the autonomous community or former Kingdom to which the city belonged, and the flag of the city (if the city has an official flag.
There is a little town in Spain, with about 90 inhabitants, that when they celebrate the town festivities, 5 flags wave on the balcony of the town hall, the Spanish flag, the flag of the old  Kingdom that belonged to it, the flag of the town, the flag of the United States and the flag of the State of Florida.

 Another curious fact is that the flag of that little town has collected the symbols most linked to the history of the town, the State of Florida, the knights who fought in the crusades and the State of
Puerto Rico.
In the flag the blue color symbolizes Puerto Rico, the red color the knights of the crusades, the heraldry incorporated the color of the crusaders according to the nation they belonged to, for example the French the silver color, the Italians the dark blue, the Germans the black, the Poles the green, the Spanish the red...And the white cross of Saint Andrew symbolizes the State of Florida.

 

Local flag of Santervás de Campos

That little town is called Santervás de Campos, it is about 180 miles from Madrid, it is the birthplace of Juan Ponce de León, was a Spanish explorer and conquistador known for leading the first official European expedition to Florida and for serving as the first governor of Puerto Rico.
Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, who led the first European expedition to Florida in 1513, named the State in tribute to Spain's Easter celebration known as “Pascua Florida,” or Feast of
Flowers.

 The mayor of the little Spanish town of Santervas de Campos, offered an exact replica of Ponce de Leon's baptismal font as a gift to the city and Cathedra Basilica. His offer was gratefully accepted by The Rev. Tom Willis, pastor of Cathedral Parish and director of the church, "in a spirit of friendship and brotherhood."Santervas de Campos volunteered to pay a stone mason to make two copies of Juan Ponce de Leon's original font - now in a Puerto Rican church - and ship them both back to the small town.

Church of Santervás de Campos.

 A replica baptismal font of the one in which Juan Ponce de Leon was baptized in 1474 arrived to St. Augustine in time for St. Augustine’s 500th anniversary celebration.
Dana Ste. Claire, the city’s 450th Commemoration development director and project coordinator, said the transportation cost for the font has been secured through two private donations: $6,000
from Pat Croce, owner of the St. Augustine Pirate Museum and Colonial Quarter LLC, and $1,000 from Cisco and Gloria Deen, longtime residents of Flagler Beach and St. Augustine. The font was
flown by commercial air carrier from Madrid to Miami International Airport, where it went through U.S. Customs and then was transported by truck to St. Augustine.
The original font was given to the Cathedral of San Juan in Puerto Rico in the 1960, Ponce de Leon was Puerto Rico’s first governor, He died in Havana (Cuba) and was buried at the Church of San Juan in San Juan,Puerto Rico. 

 Inaugurated on June 21, 2017, the museum it is located in the cellar of a former 17th century convent. It is based on the book "Retablo de Ponce de León" by the writer Enrique Sánchez Goyanes and has beendesigned by Raúl Gómez Paniagua. To visit the Ponce de León Museum is to embark on the adventure of discovering America. Quite an experience that involves getting to know in depth the life of an illustrious Spanish sailor, who set sail for the New World at the service of the Crown. It is a journey through time that begins in Santervás de Campos, the birthplace of Juan Ponce de León. From there, advancing through the museum is entering the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, knowing the historical moment and the circumstances that surrounded it.

 

 

Statue of Juan Ponce de León in Santervás de Campos

 The decoration of the museum recreates the furniture and way of life of that time. Stories and legends converge in the same space to transport us to a time when the borders of the known world were expanded. More than 500 years have passed since the Spaniard, Juan Ponce de León, crossed the waters of the Atlantic from Puerto Rico heading north in search of new lands. The three-ship expedition had departed from San Juan on March 20, when on April 2 it stopped at position 30 degrees and 8 minutes. Geographical area that currently corresponds to Ponte Vedra Beach north of the city of Saint Augustine. On April 3, 1513, Juan Ponce de León, together with his crew, disembarked and set foot on land that he later baptized as Florida because its discovery coincided with Easter Sunday. Five centuries later, Florida commemorates the arrival of Ponce de León with different acts throughout its geography. Saint Augustine, the first city in the United States founded in 1565. People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them. Santervas de Campos, less of 100 inhabitants, a little town with a big history.

Juan Ponce de León, first governor of Puerto Rico and discoverer of Florida