On This Day In History: Columbus Reached Honduras With His Ships – On July 30, 1502

AncientPages.com - On July 30, 1502, Christopher Columbus reached the Bay Islands of Honduras with his ships. He landed at mainland Honduras (Trujillo) and named the area "Honduras" (meaning "depths") for the deep water off the coast.

During his fourth and last trip through the Americas, Christopher Columbus continued his voyage, making discoveries.

After a brief stop at Jamaica, he sailed to Central America, arriving at Guanaja (Isla de Pinos) in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras. It was the first time he saw Honduran soil.

He set sail toward the northern continental coast from the Island of Guanaja, which he is said to have named Columbus.

In Punta Caxinas, now Puerto Castilla, he ordered the celebration of the first mass on the Honduran mainland. In the Rio Tinto (Tinto River), which he named Rio de la Posesion, he claimed the territory in the name of his sovereigns, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile.

Columbus, while exploring the eastern coasts of the region, reached a cape where he found shelter from the inclemencies of a tropical storm and declared, 'Gracias a Dios...' (Thank God).

According to many historians, the cape became known as Gracias a Dio's due to this exclamation.

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