Art and culture

The birthplace of discoverers.

Many of the cities and countries of the American continent were founded or discovered by people from Extremadura; pioneers who gave their names to history.

Come to Extremadura
Cuna de descubridores

Numerous discoverers were born in the lands of Extremadura.

Many of the cities and countries of the American continent were founded or discovered by people from Extremadura; pioneers who gave their names to history.

If you would like to spend a weekend out of the ordinary, we suggest that you travel accompanied by the illustrious people who crossed the Atlantic to discover a new world.

In Jerez de los Caballeros (Badajoz), explorers such as Hernando de Soto were born, who travelled through the Yucatan and Florida, crossing the Pacific Ocean, which was discovered years before by one of his compatriots, Vasco Núñez de Balboa, who discovered the South Sea (now known as the Pacific Ocean) and numerous lands.

Another of our most famous discoverers was Francisco Pizarro, born in Trujillo (Cáceres), who discovered what we now know as Peru. But he is not the only famous resident of Trujillo. Francisco de Orellana founded the city of Guayaquil in 1537 and a few years later organised the expedition that ended in the discovery of the Amazon River.

The famous Hernán Cortés was from Medellín, in the province of Badajoz. He conquered the Aztec Empire and participated in the expedition to Cuba led by Diego Velazquez in 1511.

Pedro Alvarado y Contreras, also from Badajoz, helped Hernán Cortés conquer the Aztec Empire and is considered to be the conqueror of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

Pedro de Valdivia was from Villanueva de la Serena and discovered Chile, founding cities such as Santiago de Nueva Extremadura and Villanueva de la Serena (today known as La Serena), leaving a legacy of his Extremadura roots. Alongside him was Inés de Suárez, born in Plasencia, whose enterprise led to the founding of Santiago de Nueva Extremadura.

The city of La Paz was also founded by a native of Extremadura, Alonso de Mendoza, who was born in the town of La Garrovilla in the province of Badajoz.

They have all contributed to Extremadura being known as a true birthplace of discoverers.