The Spanish Navy Training Ship ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ calls at the port of Piraeus, Athens.

The training ship ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ entered the port of Piraeus, in Athens (Greece) last February 25th. It is the first port call of the 94th training cruise of the Spanish Navy’s tall ship. She left Cadiz on the 12th of this month with a crew of 243 sailors, 73 of them midshipmen (future Navy officers).

This is the last of the three cruises commemorating the 5th Centenary of the First Circumnavigation of the globe, completed by 18 heroes, including five Greek sailors.

Among the various events held in Athens, a commemorative monument in honor of the Greek citizens who participated in that great feat was inaugurated on the 28th. It is a sphere on which the three continents known at the time are represented, a mast, a cardinal axis and the saying, both in Greek and Latin ‘Primus Circumdedisti Me’, the motto that appears in the coat of arms of Juan Sebastián de Elcano presented by King Charles I.

A Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag ceremony was also held on board for more than 30 Spaniards living in Greece in the presence of the Spanish Ambassador in Athens.

The training ship set sail again on March 1st, heading for the port of Civitavecchia, Italy.