The Longest Journey: An Exhibition about the First Circumnavigation of the Earth

Published:
11:01ч / 08.02.2022г
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Exhibition of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain in Sofia in cooperation with the State Institute for Culture at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at  the Mission Gallery, Sofia, 2 Alfred Nobel Street between February 3 and 25, 2022

The exhibition “The Longest Journey” aims to mark and promote the first circumnavigation of the Earth as a key journey in world history and to pay tribute to the research spirit of man and his search for knowledge and the unknown. The multimedia exhibition, conceived as a concept map of the first circumnavigation, will be shown for the first time in Bulgaria in the Mission Gallery at the State Institute for Culture.

500 years ago in Seville, Spain, began a long-awaited journey of mankind – on the unexplored side of the Earth to the mythical Orient and the Spice Islands. This voyage, begun by Fernando Magellan in 1519, will be the longest in an era: the first circumnavigation of the world, completed in 1522 by Juan Sebastian Elcano and the crew of the ship Victoria.

On August 10, 1519, two hundred and thirty-nine men left Seville on five ships. They crossed three oceans – the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Indian – a long and impossible journey threatened by famine, disease and riots. Three years later, 18 men returned on a ship led by Juan Sebastian Elcano. Two previous expeditions were unsuccessful – neither Columbus reached India nor Magellan arrived at the the Moluccas. Although Fernando Magellan played a very important role as a cartographer and organizer of the expedition, Elcano has the credit of the sailor who achieved it. After Magellan’s death, Elcano took command of the fleet and carried out the mission, commissioned and funded by the Spanish crown, traveling the world west and returning to Seville. Thus completes the first circumnavigation of the Earth.

The presented exhibition content is developed through a chronological line, which tells the most important events and feats from the first circumnavigation of the Еarth. Fifteen panels combine attractive images and graphics with short messages. Seven of the panels have a QR code that provides visitors with additional multimedia information with audiovisual materials that evoke the sensations of this historic journey. They can be accessed from any digital device. The exhibition is accompanied by a short documentary that brings together all these videos and transports us to the world of travel and new knowledge about the world.

The exhibition can be visited in the period 03.02. – 25.02.2022 every working day between 10 am and 5 pm in compliance with the current anti-epidemiological measures.

Source: Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain in Sofia