Did you know? The city of Zamboanga became part of the earliest known circumnavigation of the world. And this month, we celebrate the quincentennial of this event.

Ferdinand Magellan led a voyage in 1519 and was concluded by a Spanish navigator Juan Sebastian Elcano in 1522. The Magellan-Elcano expedition was the earliest known to circumnavigate the globe, and this expedition reached the Philippines in 1521.

When the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) traced this voyage in the Philippines, they found out that in October of the same year, it traveled to Zamboanga City specifically in Cauit (now Cawit), Subanin (a noted Subanen territory), and Monoripa (now Manalipa Island).

 

Source: National Quincentennial Committee