puerto de galera Archives - Stories of Life by the Sea http://ell.puertodegalera.com/tag/puerto-de-galera/ Blogging the Past, Living the Present, Promoting the Future Mon, 19 May 2025 09:47:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.1 246119339 Why I Chose the Name PuertoDeGalera.com http://ell.puertodegalera.com/why-i-chose-the-name-puertodegalera-com/ Mon, 19 May 2025 08:15:20 +0000 http://ell.puertodegalera.com/why-i-chose-the-name-puertodegalera-com/ A Personal Journey into the Historic Heart of Puerto Galera When it came time to create my personal website, I knew I wanted a name that would go beyond branding. It had to be meaningful. It had to connect with history. That’s why I chose puertodegalera.com—a name deeply rooted in the forgotten chapters of our past. You see, long before Puerto Galera became a popular destination for tourists and divers, it was known during the Spanish colonial era as Puerto de Galera, or Port of the Galley. The name appears in old Spanish records and maritime maps, lending powerful historical weight to its origin. In fact, early colonial cartographers and chroniclers repeatedly used this full name, offering visual and written proof that this wasn’t just a poetic name—it was a real place of strategic maritime importance. As I discuss in my article, “What’s in a Name,” published right here on puertodegalera.com, the word galera refers to a type of small galleon or warship used by the Spanish conquistadores for inter-island navigation. Unlike the massive galleons that crossed the oceans, these vessels—such as the San Miguel and La Tortuga—were nimble, could be rowed, and were ideal for exploring the intricate coastline of the Philippines. Puerto de Galera’s bay, naturally sheltered and deep, offered a safe haven for these galleys. It became a regular stopover—a refuge from typhoons and a launchpad for further conquest, conversion, and colonization. The name itself is a reflection of that role. When we call it Puerto Galera today, we are speaking a shortened version of something once much richer in meaning. Choosing puertodegalera.com is my way of honoring this layered past. This website is not just a space for my personal blogs, reflections, and historical notes—it is a tribute to the soul of this place. It is a gentle reminder that every name has a story, and every place has a past worth remembering. If you’re curious to dig deeper into this story, I invite you to read “What’s in a Name” here on the site. There you’ll find historical references, old map excerpts, and insights into how a name can carry the weight of centuries. Welcome to Puerto de Galera. Not just a name. A legacy.

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]]> 2683 What’s in a name? http://ell.puertodegalera.com/whats-in-a-name/ Fri, 06 Jul 2012 02:10:00 +0000 http://ell.puertodegalera.com/blog/?p=1 “Puerto Galera is not the Port of the Galleon.” The name is essential when studying the history of a place. It provides a clue, an insight of the times gone by in an area. I have read many literatures about the name Puerto Galera and how it came to be. It’s been published in countless brochures, copied in many websites and quoted in newspapers, speeches and even in a recent historical account on the island of Mindoro. Puerto Galera they say came from the Spanish Puerto de Galeon which in English means Port of the Galleon. However, as much as we want it to be true, it is rendered false by an old Spanish map made in 1871. Before we re-write history let me first attempt to tell how we got stuck with the concept of the “port of the galleon.” Firstly, it is a wonderful catch-phrase, romantically enticing, exuding images of the medieval past, and a convenient commercial tag line for the tourist industry. Secondly, there were indeed galleons that sought refuge inside Puerto Galera Bay. An early account to support this claim was in a letter to Spanish King Felipe III in July 15, 1604 by then Philippine Governor Pedro Acuña who made mention that the Almiranta 2, a galleon, was moored in Puerto Galera. But the galleon was not the first Spanish ship that sailed into Puerto Galera. On May 12, 1570, Martin de Goite and Juan de Salcedo conquered Puerto Galera onboard the San Miguel, a galera (or in English a galley). A galley is a large, usually single-decked medieval ship of shallow draft, propelled by sails and oars and used as a merchant ship or warship. A galleon was a big ship and was used when the Spaniards needed to cross oceans. It was a transatlantic carrier, ferrying passengers and cargoes across the ocean. Galleys, on the other hand, were the inter-island vessels of the Spanish Conquistadores. When they needed to conquer and explore nearby islands and rivers they used the galera. It carried 20 to 50 soldiers which also had to man the sweeps (oars); it had multiple sails. The big Spanish ships at the time of the conquest of Mindoro were moored in Panay Island where the Governor, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, waited for news from Goite and Salcedo who were off to conquer the whole Luzon and Manila using galleys including the indigenous galley-type vessels which were commandeered by the Spaniards. Together with the San Miguel and La Tortuga, a small frigate, the Spaniards brought to Puerto Galera 15 paraos manned by more than 400 native conscripts. A parao was an outrigger boat with sail and carried 20 to 100 people. The big paraos were called balangay which is the root of the word barangay. There is an article in Filipiniana.net about an old map entitled in Spanish Plano [inédito] del Puerto de Galera y Enseriada del Varadero en la Isla de Mindoro printed in Madrid, Spain in 1871. Translated into English it means: Map (unpublished) of the Port of the Galley and the cove of the drydock in the Island of Mindoro. This clearly proves that the origin of the name Puerto Galera came from Puerto de Galera and not Puerto de Galeon as is popularly believed. The etymology of other Spanish words named after places in Puerto Galera reveals a glimpse of history and how the Spaniards of yore saw such places in the context of time. Boquete means a gap which would best describe “the gap”, a small water canal between Boquete Isand and mainland Puerto Galera which existed until the late 70’s. The gap is now a sandbar. Medio Island – medio means half. It is the “other half” of Boquete Island. Ensenada means cove. This cove was used as a drydocking facility inside Varadero (drydock) Bay. The Spaniards used Varadero Bay because of its nearness to Baco where the cabisera (seat of government) was later situated. Muelle means wharf. In this wharf was built a warehouse that stored sacks of palay and other foodstuff which were collected by ships departing to Nueva España (Mexico). This warehouse burned to the ground along with the palays which became the “Black Rice of Muelle.” (Source: Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas, H. Riquel, The Phil. Islands, Blair and Robertson)

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