The golden myth of Tartessos,
so closely linked to area of Huelva, is mainly related to the Riotinto
copper mines and the proximity of the sea that makes the mineral trade
possible. Even more beneficial was the Roman presence that founded
Onuba, the Latin name for Huelva, which was provided with a large
port from where the copper was shipped. It was from the Saltes island
that Christopher Columbus set sail for America on 3 August 1492, and
to this very same mud bank did he return on 15 March 1493. The Lisbon
earthquake of 1755, which produced such devastation in Andalusia,
almost razed Huelva to the ground, and a great deal of the city's
buildings had to be rebuilt. This legendary city, with such deep historical
roots, conserves a pleasant urban atmospher in the pedestrian Calle
Concepci6n, a veritable open-air museum of the spirit of Huelva, in
the Plaza de las Monjas, which everyone passes through or stops in,
and in the nearby streets.
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