Paper short abstract:

In this paper we hope to perceive the details of the navigation of the Galleon of Manila, we will be guided mainly by magnificent chronicles of the seventeenth century, described the vicissitudes of this itinerary, to create the cultural landscape of the “Nao de China”.

Paper long abstract:

The incipient transpacific route between the Philippines and New Spain began on January 1, 1565, when Andrés de Urdaneta as senior pilot and the grandson of Legazpi, Felipe de Salcedo, as commander of the ship, sailed from Manila on the galleon San Pedro in search of the route of return more suitable for the navigation to the port of Acapulco. They filled the interior waters of the archipelago, completing the equipment of the ship there, heading for the Strait of San Bernardino for the Pacific, and taking advantage of the current of Kuro Shivo to turn east, until the sailors saw the "signs", aquatic plants, with which they showed the proximity of the Californian coast that bordered, before arriving at the port of Acapulco, 8 of October of 1565.

With this voyage a permanent transpacific route was established for two hundred and fifty years, from 1565 to 1815, which assumed the hegemony of the Pacific Ocean as a commercial space, turning the ports of Cavite and Acapulco into preferential enclaves of the oriental goods of Southeast Asia.

We will analyze this transpacific route through seventeenth century chronicles of religious, merchants and adventurers, focusing on daily aspects that allow us to figure a visual imaginary of the Manila Galleon, its route, goods and ports.