Robinson Crusoe Island: where is the same piece of land that sheltered Robinson

Daniel Defoe’s novel "Robinson Crusoe" was not just an invention of an English writer, but based on a true story of harsh survival. The prototype of Robinson Crusoe was a very real person - the Scotsman Alexander Selkirk, who lived on an uninhabited island for more than 4 years. In those days, the island was called Mas-a-Tierra, and got its modern name in 1966, more than 200 years after the publication of the famous novel.

Robinson Crusoe Island is located off the western coast of South America and belongs to Chile. The distance to the mainland is more than 600 kilometers. It is one of the three islands of the Juan Fernandez archipelago and has an area of 47.9 sq. Km. The archipelago has a volcanic origin and a characteristic mountainous terrain. The climate here is Mediterranean, that is, there are pronounced seasons of the year: moderately warm winters (when the temperature drops to +5 ºС) and hot summers.

The events that formed the basis of the famous novel unfolded in 1704. Alexander Selkirk served as a boatswain on the Sank Pore ship, which sailed to the shores of South America. At that time he was 27 years old. The sailor had a quick temper and constantly came into conflict with the captain of the ship. As a result of another quarrel, at the request of Selkirk himself, he was landed on the island of Mas-a-Tierra, by which a ship was sailing at that moment. It turns out that the fault of his stay on the island was not a shipwreck, as Daniel Defoe described in his work, but an obstinate character. Well, the rest of the life of the boatswain on the island was much like the one described in his novel by the famous Englishman.

He built a hut for himself, discovered wild goats on the island, obtained his livelihood, and read the Bible so that he would not run wild at all. True, she did not meet the natives and Fridays there, and she lived incomparably less time. Interestingly, during the stay on the island of an English sailor, Spanish ships moored twice. But since Spain and England at that time were sworn enemies, Selkirk considered it a blessing not to be shown to their eyes. The English ship "Duke" rescued the sailor (4 years after landing on the island). The fact that the story was discovered on the island was discovered Selkirka. In 2008, a British archaeological expedition reported the discovery of the remains of a hut, an observation post at the top of the mountain, and navigation instruments of the early 18th century.

Today on the island of Robinson Crusoe a little more than 600 people live, who are mainly engaged in the extraction of seafood and work in the tourism business. The largest settlement of the island called San Juan Bautista is located in the northern part of the island. Despite the original story, the tourism sector is underdeveloped, the island is visited by only a few hundred people a year. The lack of sandy beaches and high-quality roads, not at all a "paradise climate" (about half a year) and remoteness from the mainland attract only true connoisseurs of a secluded lifestyle who want to touch the history of Robinson Crusoe. In addition to the famous character, the island is famous for another attraction. The German cruiser Dresden sank off its shores during the First World War. And today, divers are diving at its location. By the way, the name of Alexander Selkirk also went down in history. This is the name of the neighboring island in the same archipelago.