Giovanni da Verrazzano was an explorer who traveled across North America through the Atlantic Coast. Areas beginning from Carolina right up to Newfoundland were included in his adventurous expeditions.
When was Giovanni da Verrazzano Born?
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Giovanna de Verrazzano was born in 1485 in Florence. His origin was Italian and he belonged to the town of Val do Greve. He also explored places like Narragansett Bay and New York Harbor in 1524. There were many ways in which his later generations honored him and this legendary explorer is still respected and remembered by all.
The beginning of his work life was in the form of a navigator. In spite of his accounts of his travels in the Americas, not much has been found out about his life.
Giovanni da Verrazzano Facts
He started his journey of the Americas under Thomas Aubert after which he went to places like Newfoundland and St. Lawrence. The king of France invited him to travel areas to find a route that led to the Pacific Ocean through the Americas.
He set out to the Cape Fear in March 1524 and traveled north till North Carolina. In his letter to the king, he pointed out that Pamlico Sound was the starting point of the Pacific Ocean according to him and that it was possible to get to China from there.
Giovanni da Verrazzano Journey
It is believed that it was this folly that led to errors that are very common in the mapping of America in those days because most maps tend to follow this route that was suggested by Giovanni da Verrazzano. It was during this time that he began interacting with the natives of the land.
On his journey, he came across the starting point of river Hudson and crossed places like Long Island, Narragansett Bay, Maine and Newfoundland after which he started his journey back to France.
He returned to his base in France in July of the year 1524. He called the areas he traveled during his voyage the ‘Francesca’. In 1527 he began another journey which led him to Brazil from where he acquired Brazil wood.
This was followed by his final expedition in 1528. However, all the three times Giovanni da Verrazzano failed to find the path to the Pacific Ocean which he was in search for.
Life of Verrazzano
It was the third voyage that cost Verrazzano his life. On his way back from the Lesser Antilles, he reached Guadeloupe where he was eaten by the dwellers of Carib. Unfortunately, Giovanni da Verrazzano failed to win the reputation that he deserved and could not be as famous as his counterparts.
The names that he had bestowed on the places that he had discovered were all changed over time. It was only much later in the 20th century that Giovanni da Verrazzano’s greatness was reinstated and a ferryboat at Staten Island as well as the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge was named after this great explorer.
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