The port did come to light in the last century when Enrique Martínez Iruño, the Argentinian Consul to Spain, settled in the town and his passion for the town lead him to speak of searching for and restoring the historic port as early as 1908 but various factors put the project on hold for nearly 80 years. By 1992, researchers had deduced , through indirect data, that the port was located somewhere in the “vaguada” or trough area but it took another 24 years and Professor Campos to confirm that the hunch was indeed correct.

Columbus set sail to find an all water route to China and India with their lucrative spice trades, with his ships the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María from Palos on the river Tinto where they had been fitted out. A slight incentive for the voyage might have been his elevation by the Spanish monarchs to ´Almirante Mayor del Mar Oceano´ and being granted viceroyalty and governorship of any lands he might discover. He also bore a letter address to the Grand Khan of China from the Spanish monarchs, a sort of early day, “hello we are your neighbours why don’t you send us over some of your wealth as a goodwill gesture”.

A consortium put together by a royal treasury official and made up of mainly Florentine and Genoese bankers in Seville provided at least 1,140,000 maravedis, or gold and silver Iberian coins minted between the 11th and 14th centuries, to fit out the expedition and Columbus supplied more than a third of the money contributed by the king and queen. Queen Isabella did not have to pawn her jewels to finance the voyage as was claimed by Bartolome de Las Casas in the 16th century.

Columbus captained the Santa Maria and the Niña and Pinta were captained by the Pizon brothers, both natives of Fontanilla de Palos, who were wealthy and expert ship fitters, sailors and explorers.

The fleet set sail on 3 August and Columbus took the decision to sail southward to the Canaries rather than due west to the islands of the Azores. The westerlies which prevail in the Azores had been the defeating factor in previous attempts at this route but Columbus picked up the northeast trade winds at the Canaries which took him on to the Bahamas and the island of San Salvador. Sailing on, Columbus made it to Cuba and sent two men ashore to investigate, feeling sure that he had now reached China. They were Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Torres. Far from finding The Emperor of China as instructed, they encountered a native Taino village where the locals were smoking tobacco, a habit they quickly caught on to. Getting back under sail, Columbus made landfall on Haiti, but on Christmas day the Santa Maria ran aground and had to be abandoned.

Columbus then took over command of the Niña having become separated from the Pinta. The separation was short and the Pinta caught up allowing the two ships to return to Spain together via Portugal. Why Portugal well, unfortunately, he had managed to sail through their waters violating the treaty of Toledo made in 1480. Employing some considerable diplomatic skills, Columbus squared things with the King of Portugal and returned to Palos. Having failed to find China and its great treasures, Columbus said that he thought the natives of the islands he had visited were the greatest treasure he had found and was rather disappointed when Queen Isabella, would not allow him to commence slave trading from the New Worlds. Columbus did bring back a few poor souls on this voyage as a “test sample” but the majority died during the voyage.

The setting off point for such a famous expedition could not lay undiscovered for ever and the archeologists have located several key areas including, the public fountain from which the ships were filled with fresh water prior to their long voyage. This is one of two ancient fountains in the town, the other lying nearer the centre but this one lies where the estuary of the Rio Tinto comes practically to its base and according to history there was a pier located beside it that provided direct access to the town from the sea. There is little doubt that this pier provided a loading facility for Columbus boats. Also located in this area were storage rooms and a tavern, both vital areas around a harbour, The tavern was where the sailors could meet and spend time before setting off on their long voyage. An area of seven pottery furnaces have been unearthed, with remains of ceramics, bricks, tiles, quicklime and even baked goods. The one place they have so far been unable to pin point is the shipyard itself but the discovered structures collectively identify the area where this would have been.
One of the most important finds has been the reef, as this allows the archeologists to determine the exact location of the port, of which there has been no material evidence to date. It is thought that the reef was the port´s customs area and the place where Columbus negotiated and made arrangements for the voyage. Professor Campos said that it was “the most satisfying discovery we´ve made”.

Still further excavation is required and many months of lab based work sifting through the thousands of artefacts and material taken from the dig but Palos is already planning on a revival of these landmarks starting with a virtual recreation of the port area.