Original subtitles

Down Here Is Where The Bones Of Christopher Columbus

Were Kept For Centuries.

You Feel 100% Confident That He's Here.

I Don't Believe It. I Know It.

This Could Be Christopher Columbus.

Move! Come On! Let's Get Out Of Here.

People Just Getting Knocked Down.

Hey, Guys. Come Here!

My Name Is Josh Gates.

With A Degree In Archaeology And A Passion For Exploration,

I Have A Tendency To End Up In Some Very Strange Situations.

Good Lord! Aah!

My Travels Have Taken Me To The Ends Of The Earth

As I Investigate The Greatest Legends In History.

We're Good To Fly. Let's Go.

This Is "Expedition Unknown."

--Captions By Vitac-- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions Paid For By Discovery Communications

My Search For The True Story

Of Christopher Columbus, Much Like The Man Himself,

Has Already Spanned Two Continents.

I've Been To The Portuguese Island Of Madeira

To Sail In A Replica

Of Columbus' Flagship, The Santa Maria,

And Then Cross The Atlantic To Haiti,

Where The Real Version Was Said To Have Run Aground.

To Find The Legendary Lost Ship,

I've Been Under The Waves Off The Northern Coast,

Where We Documented Incredible Wrecks...

Oh, My God.

...And Even Discovered A Historic Cannon Along The Shore.

Now Archaeologist Alain Norestin And I

Are On The Coast Of Northern Haiti

Trying To Confirm The Theory

That Christopher Columbus' Wrecked Flagship

May Be Trapped On Land.

We Know That At Least Part Of The Boat

Was Taken Off The Reef Where It Crashed In 1492

And That Columbus Hauled Timbers Onto Land

To Form A Fort Called La Navidad.

What Many People Don't Know

Is That Not Only Did The Santa Mariacrash,

But Columbus Left 39 Of His Men Here

While He Sailed Back To Spain For Reinforcements.

The Fortress Of La Navidad Was Designed To Protect Them,

Though The Local Taino People

Had Been Nothing But Friendly To Columbus And His Men.

The Fort Has Never Been Found.

But This Area Is Turning Out To Be An Archaeological Hot Spot.

Everywhere We Put A Shovel, We Get Something.

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa.

Right There. What Is That?

Is It Ceramic?

Look At That. Look At That.

Wow.

Oh, My God.

Wow.

Unbelievable.

Look At That.

This Museum-Quality Ceramic

Was Made By The Indigenous Taino People

And Likely Depicts A Leader,

Perhaps Even The Local King Who Met Columbus.

Right. How Old Do You Think This Is?

What Alain And Other Historians Are Discovering Here

Paints A Grim Picture Of Columbus And His Crew.

According To Historic Documents,

Columbus Grew Impatient When He Couldn't Find The Riches

He'd Promised To Bring Back To The Court Of Spain.

Soon, The Friendly Taino Were Being Abused,

Forced To Hunt For Gold That Didn't Exist.

The Mistreatment Was So Bad

That, After Columbus Left A Part Of His Crew Behind, The Natives

Murdered Them And Burned The Fort.

This Artifact Is Proof That A Significant Settlement

Was Located Right Under Our Feet,

Perhaps Even The Fort Of La Navidad Itself.

And The Remains Of Columbus' Flagship Could Be Next.

I Think There's No Question That You're In The Right Spot.

So It's Just Going To Take Some Time To Find It.

Absolutely.

Wow.

But The Story Of Columbus Doesn't End Here.

After Losing His Flagship,

Columbus Limps Back To Spain On A Grueling 2-Month Voyage.

He's Declared A Hero

And Named The Admiral Of The Ocean Sea

And Governor Of Everything He's Found.

But Columbus Was Blinded By A Dangerous Obsession

To Reach China.

And He Was Convinced That His First Voyage

Had Almost Made It.

So He Sailed Again.

His Second Voyage Brings Him Back Across The Atlantic

And Past Dominica, Guadeloupe, St. Croix, The Virgin Islands

And Puerto Rico.

On The Northern Coast Of Haiti,

He Discovers His Men Are Dead And His Fort Destroyed.

A Third Voyage Brings Him To The Very Edge Of South America

And Back To Europe.

And His Fourth Voyage Takes Him Along The Edge

Of Central America And Along Honduras, Costa Rica,

And Panama.

All Told, He Sails Nearly 50,000 Miles,

Ping-Ponging His Way Through The Caribbean,

Never Once Setting Foot On North America

And Driven Mad By His Inability To Understand Where He Is.

It Is A Misguided But Epic Journey.

And The Flagship That Started It All May One Day Soon Be Found.

So For Today, The Hunt For The Santa Mariacontinues.

But That's Not The End Of The Story

Because Maybe The Greatest Mystery

Associated With Columbus Isn't The Location Of His Flagship

But The Location Of The Explorer Himself.

Though He Died In 1506, That Didn't Stop His Travels.

In Death, His Bones Undertook A Bizarre Journey,

Jumping From Continent To Continent Until,

Finally, Two Different Countries

Laid Claim To Be His Final Resting Place.

One Of Those Countries Is On This Very Island.

And So To Get To The Bottom Of This Mystery,

I'm Gonna Have To Cross Borders And Oceans

And Risk The Scorn Of Two Different Nations

To Answer One Very Big Question --

Where Is Christopher Columbus?

The First Possible Location

Of Columbus' Bones Is In The Dominican Republic,

Which Shares A Border With Haiti,

And It's Not The Friendly Kind Of Sharing.

Man: You Guys Have -- You Guys Have To Go...

-Okay, Sure. -...And Get Your Passports.

Sure Thing.

Gates: The Remote Border Town

Of Malpasse Is A No-Man's-Land Between The Two Nations.

And It's Not The Kind Of Place You Want To Spend Too Much Time.

I Get My Passport Stamped...

...And Get The Hell Out Of Dodge.

Unlike Haiti And Its French Influences,

The Dominican Republic Was A Spanish Colony.

So It's Au Revoir,Creole, Hola, Español.

Just Over The Border,

And Already A Very Different Feeling

From The Streets Of Port-Au-Prince.

Roads Are Wide And Well-Paved.

Generally Feels A Lot More Orderly.

It's A Lot Less Chaotic.

It's 168 Miles From The Haitian Border

To The Dominican Capital Of Santo Domingo,

Where Columbus' Bones May Be Hiding.

On The Way, Though, I Pull Off To See Something

That's Been Here Since Well Before Columbus Arrived.

Up A Dirt Road And Through The Overgrown Jungle

Is A Network Of Massive Caves With A Very Big Secret.

In More Than 55 Chambers,

One Of The Largest Collections Of Pre-Columbian Art

In The New World Is Concealed.

It Was Left Here By The Taino People,

Who Once Thrived On These Islands.

This Is A Shaman...

Animals...

Some Kind Of Ceremonial Dance.

In Terms Of Unlocking The Mystery Of Columbus,

So Much Of What We Know About The Arrival In The New World

Comes From The European Side.

It Comes From Columbus' Journals,

And It Comes From Other European Historians.

This Idea That There Was No Writing In The New World

Is Not Entirely True.

We Have These Written Clues That Exist Here In These Caves

That Actually Can Tell Us

About The People That Were Here Before Columbus Arrived.

There Were No Horses On These Islands

Until European Explorers Brought Them.

This Symbol Marks The Moment After Columbus Arrived

And The Beginning Of The End For The Taino.

When Columbus Came Ashore In 1492,

There Were Over 1 Million Taino Throughout The Caribbean.

By 1528, The Population Was Barely 500 People.

Mistreatment, Starvation

And Disease Killed Off An Entire Civilization In 50 Years.

Further Into The Caves, The Art Is Gone.

But There Appears To Be Something Else.

[ Bats Squeaking ]

It's Moments Like This Where An Adventurer

Needs To Stay Calm, Cool, And Collected.

Holy [Bleep]

They're Touching Me! Aah!

[ Shuddering ]

[ Sighs ]

I'm Fine.

Everything's -- Everything's Fine.

After Recomposing Myself,

I Continue My Drive To Santo Domingo

And Am Making Great Time Toward The Capital.

Oh, Perfect. That Looks Good.

Guess I'll Get The Old Aaa Card Out.

Pretty Sure I Do Have Free Towing.

I'm Changing A Tire. What Am I Doing?

[Bleep] You.

Columbus Had It Easy -- No Tires To Change.

All Done.

Back On The Road, I Finally Roll Into Santo Domingo.

♪♪

The Capital Was Founded

By Christopher Columbus' Brother Bartholomew In 1496,

Making It The Oldest European Settlement In The Americas.

This City Is A Laid-Back Colonial Time Capsule,

Cobbled Together From An Age

When Explorers Like Ponce De Leon

And Francis Drake Called Santo Domingo Home.

Just Above The City, Though, Is An Otherworldly Structure,

A Massive 700-Foot-Long Concrete Edifice In The Shape Of A Cross.

This Is The Faro A Colon, Or The Columbus Lighthouse.

It Was Built In 1992

To Commemorate The 500Th Anniversary

Of The Discovery Of The New World.

It Is An Incredibly Impressive Building.

But It Is Not Without Its Detractors.

After All, It Cost A Fortune And Took Six Years To Build.

The Lighthouse Portion, Which Used To Shine Up

And Could Be Seen From As Far Away As Puerto Rico, Well,

That Hasn't Worked In Years Because, Every Time

They Turn It On, The Entire City Blacks Out.

And To Many People,

This Building Looks Less Like A Monument To An Explorer

And More Like A Temple To A Catholic Demigod.

Leo Perez Is A Historian

Who's Been Studying Columbus For Decades.

Along With His Assistant, He's Agreed To Show Me The Lighthouse

And Its Controversial Prized Possession.

This Is A Really Incredible Building.

Yeah.

And This Particular Structure, In The Middle Here,

This -- This Mausoleum, What's Inside This Box?

He's Right Here?

Gates: Afternoon In The Dominican Republic.

I'm On A Quest To Uncover The True Nature

Of Christopher Columbus And His True Final Resting Place.

Here In The Columbus Lighthouse,

Historian Leo Perez Has A Simple Answer.

Gates: What's Inside This Box?

He's Right Here?

It's Quite A Feeling To Be Just A Few Feet Away

From The Most Famous Explorer In The World.

But Is This Really The Admiral's Final Resting Place?

It's A Question That Has Divided Two Nations.

I've Heard Some People Say

That They Think He's In Spain.

That Columbus Wished To Be Buried Here At All Was Curious.

He Had A Love-Hate Relationship With The Territory

That He Discovered.

So Why Would He Want To Spend Eternity Here?

You Feel 100% Confident That He's Here.

Right. They're Here.

You Know It.

The Dominicans Submitted Their Bones For Carbon Dating.

And While They Do Appear To Be From The Correct Time Period,

They've Refused To Submit The Dna Within The Bones

For Genetic Identification.

Why Not Dna Test These Bones?

Right. You Have Nothing To Prove.

Right.

Leo's Opinion Is Rock-Solid.

He's As Sure About This As Gravity.

But The Dominicans' Refusal

To Test The Bones Raises A Lot Of Questions.

So The Only Way To Prove That Columbus Is Here

Is To Get Another Sample Of His Dna.

In Order To Find One,

I'll Need To Go To The Place Where The Explorer's Remains

Were Held Before They Were Moved To The Lighthouse.

I'm On My Way To The Nearby Cathedral

Of Santa María La Menor

When I Realize That Half The Town Is Coming With Me.

I'm Here During The Holy Catholic Feast

Of Corpus Christi,

Which Celebrates The Eucharist,

The Belief In The Power

Of The Blood And Body Of Jesus Christ.

As We Snake Through The Narrow Streets,

I'm Struck By The Fact

That Columbus Not Only Claimed This Island,

But He And His Followers Infused It With Religion.

Today, Nearly 70% Of The Dominican Republic

Is Still Catholic.

I Break Away Here At The Cathedral.

Columbus' Bones, Along With Those Of His Son Diego,

Arrived Here In 1541

And Were Placed In An Altar Beside The Congregation.

Inside The Cathedral, I'm Met By Jose Rodriguez,

Who Works With The Archdiocese Of Santo Domingo.

He's Agreed To Tell Me The Rest Of The Story.

This Is An Incredible Building. How Old Is It?

[ Speaking Spanish ]

Interpreter: It's 504 Years Old,

A Lot Of History.

There's Even A Cannonball From Sir Francis Drake

Lodged In The Roof.

Amazing To Think That Something

That's Half A Millennium Old Is Still Standing.

This Cathedral

Is Very Closely Associated With The Story Of Columbus.

Tell Me What Was Discovered Here.

It Was Really An Incredible Thing.

They Found A Box That Contained The Actual Remains

Of Christopher Columbus.

They Weren't Supposed To Be There.

But There They Were.

Originally, Two Boxes Of Bones Were Shipped Here,

One Containing Columbus And The Other His Son Diego.

Here's How It Went Down.

Columbus Dies In Valladolid, And His Body Goes To Seville

And Then Across The Atlantic To This Church In 1541.

Then, When It Looks Like The French Are Going

To Conquer Santo Domingo,

The Spanish Move The Box

Containing The Explorer's Bones To Havana And Then Back To Spain

For Safe Keeping.

But During Church Renovations Here In 1877,

Another Box Is Found With The Inscription,

"Columbus, Admiral Of The Sea."

The Dominicans Moved Their Box

To The Columbus Lighthouse In 1992,

Believing That The Spanish Took The Wrong Bones.

And Just Like That, We Have Two Graves For One Man.

So Can You Show Me Where The Bones

That Were Found Here...

They Were Put Into A Mausoleum.

Where Is The Mausoleum?

[ Speaks Spanish ]

Here?

Before Being Moved To The Nearby Lighthouse,

The Bones Were In This Church For Nearly 250 Years.

We Roll Back The Carpet To Find A Fixture

That Marks The Location Of The Old Altar

Where Columbus Was Interred.

So This Is All That's Left, Is This Marker.

-The Center. -The Center Of The Mausoleum.

And The Bones. Where Was His Body?

They Told Everyone That Columbus Was Right There.

But The Truth Is Different.

To Keep The Bones Safe,

They Were Hidden Under The Floor.

And -- And When Was The Last Time Somebody Went Down There?

It's Been Decades.

It Was A Secret That His Bones Were Kept Below.

Is It Possible To See What's Down There?

It's Possible.

But I Can't Be Responsible For You.

If You Go Down There, You Go Alone.

Okay. Okay.

I'm Not Going To Pass Up

The Opportunity To Explore This Venerated Tomb.

I Slide Away The Pews, Pull Back The Floor Grate,

And Prepare To Descend Down Into The Darkness.

That Is One Dark Crypt.

How Cool Is This?

Gates: I'm Getting An Incredibly Rare Look Beneath The Floor

Of The Cathedral Of Santo Domingo,

Where The Remains Of Christopher Columbus Himself

Were Interred For Hundreds Of Years.

How Cool Is This?

I Make My Way Through The Passage,

Straining To See Anything Ahead Of Me.

So Lots Of Old Brickwork Down Here

With Newer Foundation Above.

Perhaps A Fragment Of Bone

Can Still Be Found To Conduct A Dna Test.

So This -- This Is It.

This Is Where The Sarcophagus

Probably Sat That Held The Bones Of Columbus.

It Would've Been Right Here On Top Of This Old Brickwork.

This Is The Exact Spot Where Columbus Once Laid.

I Scour The Platform For Any Fragments Of Bone,

Wood Or Cloth.

Looks Like Some Sort Of Straw, Some Sort Of Line.

But That's About It.

Everything Major's Been Moved Out,

No Markings, No Inscriptions,

Just This Very Old Platform Where Those Bones Would've Sat.

So The Hunt Continues.

So If There's No Dna Left In The Crypt,

And Since The Dominicans Refuse To Test The Bones They've Got,

You Might Think We're At A Dead End.

Okay.

Let's Keep Moving.

But Remember, There's Another Country In The World

That Claims To Have The Bones Of Columbus.

To Explore Their Side Of The Case

And To Figure Out Who Columbus Really Was,

I'm Gonna Need To See Where The Great Explorer Died.

And That Means We're Going To Spain.

♪♪

Located On The Iberian Peninsula, Spain Is...

Well, As Hemingway Once Wrote, There's No Country Like It.

And With The Obligatory Hemingway Reference

Out Of The Way, I Can Further Say That Spain

Is Indeed Intoxicating.

This Place Is Outrageous.

Is It -- Is It Possible For Me To Try?

But Of Course.

Everything Is Possible In Paradise.

This Is A Meat Cone. When It's Hot Outside,

Nothing Takes The Edge Off Like A Big Cone Of Meat.

I Mean, Forget Ice Cream.

Thriving On Fiestas And Siestas,

Its Gothic Cathedrals And Islamic Domes

Show The Fingerprints Of Every Culture

That Has Been Here.

Though Columbus Wasn't Born A Spaniard,

There Are Few Historic Figures More Revered Here.

In 1504, After Four Voyages To The New World,

Columbus Returns To Spain One Last Time.

And On May 20, 1506, He Dies Of Congestive Heart Failure

In The City Of Valladolid.

At The Center Of Valladolid Is The Plaza Mayor,

Filled With Incredible History And Striking Architecture

Dating Back To The 16Th Century.

Nice To Meet You.

It's Here Where I Meet Up

With Professor Of History Javier Burrieza Sanchez

And Archaeologist Adrianne Williams.

So Valladolid Is The City Where Christopher Columbus Dies.

-Yes. -And Where Does That Happen?

Well, That Happened In The Convent Of San Francisco,

Which Occupied This Area Of The Plaza Mayor.

So I Do Not See A Convent Here Today.

It Does Not Exist.

That's Right. You Can't Find It Anymore.

Uh, How Does Columbus Come To Be Buried In Valladolid?

Truthfully, Christopher Columbus

Did Not Plan On Dying Here In Valladolid.

He Was Here To Meet The New King And Queen.

-Right. -Death Found Him.

Gates: But What About The Will That I Heard About

In The Dominican Republic?

According To That, Columbus

Explicitly Wished To Be Buried In The New World.

So Why Was He Buried Here First?

He Actually Has A Copy Of The Last Will And Testament

For Christopher Columbus Written The Day Before He Died.

Gates: Javier Is Holding The Proof,

A Copy Of The Last Will Columbus Dictated To A Notary

Right Here In Valladolid Days Before His Death.

And What Does He Write?

[ Speaking Spanish ]

So In This Document,

There's Really No Mention At All Of The Convent Of San Francisco

Or Where He Would Like To Be Buried.

He Doesn't Really Specify

Where He Wants His Remains To Go.

There's Absolutely No Mention Of Where He Wanted To Be Buried.

Gates: I Know Some Folks In The Dominican Republic

Who Would Be Unhappy To Hear That.

Finding A Fragment Of Columbus' Dna Could Not Only

Tell Us Where The World's Most Famous Explorer Is Buried,

But It Could Tell Us So Much More About The Man Himself.

But The Fact Is He Was 100% Buried Here First

Before His Body Got Moved Around.

So Is It Possible That, After Almost 500 Years,

Some Of Columbus Is Still Here?

So We Believe That His Remains Were Moved To Seville In 1509.

Even If They Were Careful With Removing The Correct Remains,

We Don't Know If They Removed All Of Them.

Right.

Some Of Them Might Still Be Behind.

But In Order To Pinpoint The Spot Where Columbus

May Have Been, Uh,

Seems Difficult. -Well, Yes.

I Mean, The Only Way To Get A Good Idea Is From Above.

-From Up There? -From Up There. Exactly.

Williams: Let's Do This.

♪♪

Gates: The Valladolid Of Today Bears Little Resemblance

To The City That Columbus Died In.

Adrianne Is Using Centuries-Old Maps And Gps Scans

To Peel Back The Layers Of Time.

The Plaza Is Key Since It Existed In Columbus' Era.

So Where Inside The Nearby Structures

Could He Have Been Interred?

Returning To Ground Level, We Reunite With Javier

And Head To The Possible Site Of The Convent,

Which Today Is A Lovely Little Bistro.

Can I Have A Churro? Yeah?

Fortunately, We Don't Need Reservations

To Explore Their Ancient Sub-Basement.

In 2005, 17Th-Century Crypts

Were Discovered Under The Nearby Casino.

We're Hoping To Get Lucky And Find Even More.

This Is Spooky Down Here.

Williams: Yeah. Look At The Layers Here.

You Have Brick And Then Plaster Over That

And Then, Over This Old Stone Here And Beneath It All,

This Really Old Wood.

-Yeah. -Who Knows How Old That Is?

Wow.

I Hate The Idea That This Wood Is Holding Anything Up.

Gates: We Search The Deep Cellar

Of The Restaurant For Any Sign Of A Burial

That Could Be From Columbus' Time.

Oh. Got Something.

Hey. Come Here. Come Here. Guys, Come Here.

Sanchez: Sí.

Javier, Adrianne, Come Here.

Hey, Guys. Come Here!

Oh, Look At This.

Hey, Come Here. Come Here. Guys, Come Here.

I'm Hot On The Trail Of Christopher Columbus' Bones

In Valladolid, Spain.

Deep Underground

And Close To His First Burial Spot In A Former Convent,

I've Just Found Something That Could Be A Breakthrough.

Very Small. But No Question About It.

That's A Bone. -Wow.

You Know, Look. His -- His -- His Bones

Moved Around So Many Times. You Never Know.

This Could Be A Piece Of Him

Or A Piece Of Somebody Else From The Monastery.

You Never Know. Who Knows?

Williams: Or Some Other Very Important Figure

That Was Forgotten. -Right?

Gates: Ooh. More.

Look At That. More Bone.

There's No Question That This Basement

Is Filled With Remains From Centuries Past.

But What We've Come Across Here Is Not From Human History.

I Think We've Got An Animal Bone Here.

This Looks Like It Could Be From A Dog.

Could Be -- Could Be Columbus' Dog.

That's A Possibility.

So Unless This Is The Remains Of Tintin's Dog, Snowy,

I'm Not In The Presence Of A Famous Explorer.

But The Search Isn't Over.

I'm Going To Visit The City

Which The Spanish Believe Is Columbus' Final Resting Place

And Where There's Actual Dna

That Could Unlock The Mysteries Of The Man Himself.

I Head To The Train Station.

And Before I Know It, I'm On The Move Again.

While People In The Dominican Republic

Are Convinced That They Have The Bones

Of Christopher Columbus, Folks Here In Spain Would Disagree.

They Believe That His Bones Are Safe And Sound

In The Historic City Of Seville.

Seville Is The Capital Of The Andalusia Region

And Is The Only River Port In The Country.

Venetians, Romans,

Moors, And Castilians Have All Made Their Marks Here,

Leaving Behind Incredibly Varied Buildings

From The Alcazar Castle

Which Moonlights On "Game Of Thrones"

To The Famed Bullfighting Arena, The Plaza Del Toros.

Yes, Yes, Yes.

Just Keep Doing That, Please.

I'm Headed To Seville's Archives

To Do A Bit Of Digging On Columbus.

And To Get There, I Hail Not A Taxi...

-[ Horse Neighs ] -...But A Horse.

Seville.

What's Not To Like?

This Is The Kind Of City

You Fall In Love In About Every 20 Minutes.

You Know What I Mean? With The Food, With The People.

You Just Think, "I Could Live Here."

And Then, You Go, "Oh, No. Wait. It's 112 Degrees."

I Carry On To The Archive Of The Indies.

After All, The Missing Bones Aren't The Only Clues

That Can Unlock The Secrets Of Columbus.

This Was The Nerve Center Of The Spanish Empire,

30 Miles Of Bookshelves Filled With All Of Spain's

Most Important...

[ Metal Detector Beeping ]

...And Heavily Guarded Documents --

Pizarro's Maps,

Cortes' Diaries.

If You're A History Nerd, You Could Die In Here.

I'm Meeting Consuelo Varela,

A Professor At The Spanish National Research Council,

To Try To Understand Who Columbus Really Was.

So Much Of What We Know About Columbus

Really Comes From Writings And Journals.

What Kind Of Man Emerges From The Journals?

A Man Who Had An Idea, An Entrepreneur In One Sense.

Mm-Hmm.

In Columbus' Copy Of Marco Polo's Book,

He's Made Copious Notes In The Margins

Expressing His Dreams Of Finding Riches In China.

Marco Polo Says That, In The New World,

There Were Rubies, Eh, Everything.

He's Writing, "Sapphire, Topaz"...

Rubies.

Topazes, Rubies.

Then She Shows Me Something Even More Impressive.

-This Is A Document. -Wow.

It's A Contact Between Columbus And The King And The Queen.

This Is From 1492.

-Yes. -Oh, Come On.

So This Is Four Months Before The Voyage.

Yes.

Gates: This Document Is More Than Historic.

The Signing Of This Piece Of Paper Was The Turning Of An Age.

And What Does The Contract Say?

-If He Discovers Some Lands... -Mm-Hmm.

...He Will Be Named Admiral Of The Sea.

He Will Get A Great Percent Of All The Revenue.

It Turns Out That Columbus Was A Pretty Ruthless Businessman.

If His Original Contract Was Still Valid Today,

We'd All Be Paying A Tax

To His Family On Everything We Bought.

But His Writings Also Reveal A Fiercely Skilled

And Curious Navigator Who Wanted To Understand The Unknown.

This Is Astounding... -Yeah.

-...To -- To See This. -Yes, Of Course It Is.

This Document Sets Into Motion

A Whole New World, Really.

His Tenacity Was Incredible.

To Decide To Go To The Ocean

With Those Three Vessels So Small...

And He Never Really Got The Fame.

-No, Not At The Moment. -Yeah.

If He Could See Today His -- His Legacy,

What Do You Think He Would...

Well, He Would Be Very, Very --

The Most Happiest Man In The World, I Suppose.

With A Clear Sense Of The Man Behind The Legend,

I Head To The Last Major Stop On My Journey...

...Another Place

Where The Explorer Might Actually Be Located.

And Just Like The Lighthouse In The Dominican Republic,

This Place Isn't Exactly Subtle.

This Is The Great Cathedral De Seville.

It Is The Largest Gothic Cathedral On The Planet.

It Was Built In The 15Th Century,

Took More Than 100 Years To Complete.

And It Is An Architectural Masterpiece.

And It Is, At Least According To The Spanish,

The True Final Resting Place Of Christopher Columbus.

The Interior Of The Cathedral Is Awe-Inspiring, Soaring,

Mystical And A Place Where Us Mere Mortals Feel Very Small.

But There's No Mistaking The Main Attraction Here.

Rising Up Over The Congregation

Are Four Enormous Statues Carrying A Draped Coffin.

It's So Grand That You'd Be Forgiven For Thinking

They've Got The Pope Up There.

But In Fact, It's Believed By Many

To Be The Bones Of An Explorer.

After Going To The New World,

The Spanish Moved What They Believed Was The Box

With Columbus' Bones To Havana

Before Bringing Them Back To A Monastery In Seville

And Then Here To The Nearby Cathedral.

But Did They Take The Right Box?

Or, Like The Dominicans Claim, Is Someone Else Buried Here?

I Tried To Get In For A Closer Look At The Coffin.

But Then, This Happens.

Not Allowed.

Very, Very Strict.

Journalists, Uh, Are Not Allowed To Be On Camera With The Tomb.

That's, Uh, Against The Rules.

Uh, They Have To Remain Separate.

Very, Very Guarded.

Despite Making Arrangements To Film Here, Church Officials

Are Really Uptight About Anyone Exploring This Historic Mystery.

Honestly, It Feels Like It's Bordering On Conspiracy,

And I Try Not To Take It Personally.

Not A Lot Of Leeway In There.

Even Just Getting A Camera Crew In There

Was A Huge Amount Of Effort.

But, Uh, First Time Getting Thrown Out Of A Cathedral?

Are You Kidding Me? On This Show?

I May Not Have Made It Up To The Coffin Itself,

But Fortunately For Me, Someone Else Has.

Several Years Ago,

The Remains Were Briefly Transferred

To The University Of Granada For Testing.

So That's Where I'm Headed Next

To See If They Managed To Decipher The Dna.

♪♪

My Meeting Isn't For 24 Hours.

So I Disembark In The City Of Pamplona,

Where I Can't Help But Notice That Everyone Is Wearing White,

Red And Hiding Behind A Lot Of Very Sturdy-Looking Barriers.

This Is The Festival Of San Fermin.

But You Might Know It Better As The Running Of The Bulls.

To Witness The Insanity For Myself,

I Toss On The Traditional Attire,

Hoping To Avoid Any Blood Spatter On My Crispy Whites.

This Is The Definition Of Madness.

Here's What You Need To Know About The Running Of The Bulls.

It's Been Going On Here In Pamplona

For More Than 200 Years.

It's Been In Existence In Spain Since The 14Th Century.

And It Is Really, Really Crazy.

They Take Six Very Angry Bulls That Are Going To Die

Later On Today In The Bullfighting Arena,

And They Release Them Into The Streets Of Pamplona

At Exactly 8:00 A.M.

8,000 Runners Will Flood These Streets

With One Goal -- To Not Get Gored.

But It Is, Without A Doubt,

The Most Dangerous Half Mile In The World.

Since Nothing In Spain Is Done With Understatement, The Bulls

Are Released With The Firing Of A Rocket In The Main Plaza.

[ Explosion ]

Gates: I'm Searching For The Truth

Behind The Two Different Final Resting Places

Of Christopher Columbus In Both The New World

And The Old.

Currently, I'm In Pamplona, Where I'm Trying

To Stay Out Of The Way Of Some Seriously Angry Livestock.

Proponents Of The Running Of The Bulls Will Tell You

That There Have Only Been 15 Deaths Since 1910,

Though Fail To Advertise That There Are More Than 100 Gorings

And Tramplings Each Year.

Just Brutal.

People Just Getting Knocked Down.

The Bulls Are Dangerous.

The Other People Are Just As Dangerous.

When It's All Over, The Bloodshed Is Minimal,

And No One Is Dead Other Than The Bulls, Of Course,

Which I Can't Say I Feel Good About.

But As I Wrestle With The Question Of Whether Or Not

This Whole Event Is Cultural Or Cruel Or Both, Really...

...I'm Distracted By A Parade Of Giants.

There Are Four Pairs Of Kings And Queens Here,

One For Each Of The Four Corners Of The World,

Including The Americas,

Something Added To The Festival After The Discovery

Of The New World.

These Guys Are Known As The Kilikis.

So They Are, Uh,

Designed To Guard And Protect The Royal Statues.

And They Do That By Beating People Up.

He's Literally Beating Up Children.

Oh, God. Oh, God.

Now, It's -- It's Starting To Hurt A Little Bit, Actually.

This Guy Has A Serious Anger-Management Problem.

With My Senses Now Battered Into Numbness,

I Need To Get To My Meeting.

I Jump Back On My Train To Meet Dr. Miguel Botella,

A Professor Of Anthropology At The University Of Granada.

Gates: How Many Years At The University?

Cuantos Años? -42 Years.

-42 Years? -Yes.

Gates: When Columbus' Crypt

At The Seville Cathedral Was Last Opened,

Dr. Botella Was There.

In 2006, His Team Did Dna Testings On What Was Inside.

And He's Agreed To Share Their Findings With Me.

Had They Opened The Crypt In The Cathedral

In Seville Before?

[ Speaking Spanish ]

There Was Only 150 Grams.

-Yeah. -So Very Little.

Interpreter: Very Little.

They Believe That People In The Past

Had Taken Pieces Of Bones As Souvenirs.

So We Were Shocked To Find

There Wasn't A Full Skeleton Left.

So This Is The Inside Of The Box?

-Yeah. -Wow.

Gates: He Shows Me On A Model

What Small Pieces Remained In The Crypt.

Little Bit Of The Jaw,

Arm, Couple Of Leg Bones And A Little Bit Of Vertebrae.

Yeah.

They Removed The Bones To Do Dna Analysis.

They Then Swabbed The Gums

Of Hundreds Of People Around The World

With The Last Name Colon In Spain Or Colombo In Italy.

The Idea Was To Try To Determine Columbus' Nationality.

But The Results Were Inconclusive.

Interpreter: The Dna Was A Match,

But That Doesn't Settle The Case.

It Only Means It's The Same Family.

It Could Be Columbus, Or It Could Be His Son

If The Wrong Box Was Brought Back From The New World.

We Couldn't Get Enough Dna Out Of The Sample To Be Sure.

In Terms Of The Physical Examination,

Do You Think That The Samples Match Columbus?

Normally,

I'd Compare The Bones With The Images Of The Person.

But Columbus Never Sat For A Portrait.

So Every Painting You've Seen Of Columbus Isn't Him.

So Every Image That We Have Of Him Is Made Up?

All Invented By Painters Who Never Met Him.

We Have No Idea What He Looked Like.

So I Went To Santo Domingo.

And The People There

Are 100% Confident That He's In Santo Domingo.

They Say That Everybody In Spain Has It Wrong,

You Guys Are Crazy.

Yeah, Yeah, Maybe. Maybe Crazy, Yes.

What -- What Do You Say To The People There?

How Do You Refute That?

Interpreter: If They Are So Confident,

Then They Should Allow The World To Test Those Bones.

Until Then, Columbus And His Grave Are A Puzzle.

Everything About Him Is A Mystery...

Mm-Hmm. Mm-Hmm.

-...Even In Death. -Everything. Yes.

Gates: However, Even If The Dominicans

Don't Open The Remains At The Lighthouse,

There Might Still Be Hope For An Answer.

Interpreter: Dna Technology Is Evolving Fast.

In The Future, Machines May Be Able To Use The Small Sample

We Have To Get A Definitive Answer.

We've Taken Great Pains

To Preserve The Dna We've Recovered.

And Where Are Those Samples Kept?

Is It Possible To See The Sample?

Yeah.

I Waste No Time In Racing Downstairs To The Dna Lab.

It's Possible That A Little Bit Of Christopher Columbus

Is On The Other Side Of This Door.

Gates: I'm At The University Of Granada In Spain,

Where I've Just Learned That On The Other Side Of This Lab Door

Might Lay Some Of The Actual Remains Of Christopher Columbus.

There We Go.

Security Is Tight, And Precautions Are Extensive.

And Why Wouldn't They Be?

As I've Learned, Countries Will Go To Extraordinary Lengths

To Protect Columbus And His Legacy.

Woman: Here It Is.

-This Is It. -Yeah.

Cc.

Christopher Columbus.

So This Right Here,

This Tiny Piece Of Liquid... -Yeah.

This Could Be Christopher Columbus.

Yes.

Gates: What I'm Holding, Against All Odds,

Is Very Possibly A Small Vial Of Liquid History.

This Is Incredible, The Most Famous Explorer In The World,

That His Dna Could Be Right Here.

Thank You So Much For Showing Me This.

You're Welcome.

I Know It's A Very Little Sample, But It's A Big Thrill.

-Yeah. -It Really Is.

It's Amazing.

What Else Do You Have In Here, Anything Cool?

Zombies? -No.

-Aliens? -No.

Jimmy Hoffa?

Gates: They're Not Quite There Yet.

But Any Day Now, These Scientists

May Be Able To Confirm The Last Resting Place

Of The Great Explorer Himself.

In The Past Two Weeks,

I Have Flown Thousands Of Miles Across The Globe

To Shed Light On The Mysteries Of Columbus.

In Looking For His Lost Flagship, The Santa Maria,

Reports That It Has Been Found Now Seem Premature.

But There Is Evidence Beneath The Sea...

...And On Land Of An Entire Era Of History Yet To Be Recorded.

That Is A Cannon.

And In The Search For Columbus' Remains,

I Followed His Five-Century Voyage Across Two Continents.

I've Seen Two Coffins With His Name On It

And Even Held What Could Be A Vial Of His Dna.

My Professional Hunch Is That,

After So Many Relocations, Christopher Columbus' Remains

Are Likely Scattered Across The Continents

That He Himself Connected.

But More Than Anything,

I Can't Shake The Feeling That I Now Know More Than Ever

About Columbus

And Yet Nothing At All.

The Man Remains Frustratingly Out Of Focus.

I See Him As Both Hero And Villain,

Who Deserves The Admiration For His Daring Mastery

Of The Seas And Condemnation

For What He Did When He Crossed To The Other Shore.

But Without Him, None Of Us Who Call The New World Home

Would Be Here.

Without His Vision And His Tenacity, Our Own Lives

May Never Have Come To Be.

As Citizens Of The Modern World,

We Have To Live With Columbus' Legacy,

Learn From His Mistakes, Celebrate His Triumphs,

And Continue To Explore New Worlds Beyond Our Own.