Nombre de Jesús (Patagonia)

Nombre de Jesús was a Spanish town in Patagonia, settled in 1584 by Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa in the Magellan Strait. Nombre de Jesús also refers to the archaeological site located in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, where the remains of this settlement were found. This was the first European settlement in the Magellan Strait.

In 1581 King Philip II of Spain sent an expedition intended to fortify the Magellan Strait against Francis Drake's raids on the Spanish colonies. The colonizing fleet commanded by Diego Flores de Valdés and consisting of 23 ships and 3,000 men, sailed on September 25, 1581. Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa was embarked as future governor of the Strait.

Five ships and 800 people were lost shortly after leaving Cadiz; 150 died at sea due to disease and 200 more at Rio de Janeiro where the expedition arrived on March 24. They sailed on November but at Rio de la Plata another ship sank during the night. Flores de Valdez decided to fall back to Brazil: a ship is lost near Don Rodrigo port, and a second one was damaged by Edward Fenton's fleet and sank arriving to Rio.

Nine remaining ships sailed from Santa Catalina on January 7, 1853: one of them was lost shortly at sea, and 3 caravels decided to head for the recently funded port of Buenos Aires. Five ships finally arrive to the Magellan Strait on February 1, 1583, two years after leaving Spain with 23 ships. However, due to the unfavorable conditions of the season, the expedition was unable to land. Demoralized, Flores de Valdes decided to return to Spain.

On their way back they met at Rio de Janeiro 4 caravels sent from Spain to reinforce the settlements they believed to be funded. At this point, Flores de Valdes and Sarmiento de Gamboa broke apart: the first would return to Spain with 3 ships, while Gamboa would take a second attempt at the strait with 6 ships and 538 settlers.

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