Spanish navigator and explorer Álvaro de Mendaña …

Years: 1595 - 1595

Spanish navigator and explorer Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira leads the voyage that in 1595 discovers the first islands of Polynesia known to Europeans.

He names them the Marqusas after his patron, García Hurtado de Mendoza, 5th Marquis of Cañete, who is Viceroy of Peru at this time.

Mendaña visits first Fatu Hiva and then Tahuata before continuing on to the Solomon Islands.

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