Updated March 17, 2017 Juan Ponce de León (1474-1521) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador.
It is said that those who fast and drink from the well three times will be cured of all sickness.

This age-defying water was called the Fountain of Youth and, sometimes, the Well of Life.But how seriously did cultures throughout history take their quests for curing waters? Perhaps nothing has vexed humanity quite like the inevitable pull of aging.

A long-standing story is that Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, Puerto Rico's first Governor, was searching for the Fountain of Youth when he traveled to present-day Florida in 1513, but the story did not start with him, nor was it unique to the New World. De Leon explored many areas, including the Bahamas and Bimini, for both gold and the mythical fountain, but he never found either. "They that often drink thereof seem always young-like, and live without sickness," tells No other name is as synonymous with the Fountain of Youth as Juan Ponce de León, a Spanish explorer, who, in the 16th century, was rumored to have sought a place of mystical rejuvenation. Edit them in the Widget section of the This is a text widget. In Okinawa, where the practice is to eat something from the land and sea daily, about 6.5 per 10,000 people live to be 100, compared to the 1.73 in 10,000 people in the United States. Here, tourists can sip from a sulfur-smelling spring, first documented in a 17th-century land grant, in the hopes of becoming rejuvenated, according to In fact, as the location of Ponce de León's landing has been disputed, Florida boasts tens of locations purporting to be the There is no evidence of any benefits from drinking these natural, eggy waters, but the St. Augustine tourist attraction is indeed a place of history. Naturally, Ponce de León never did find a river of immortality.If Ponce de León never expressed interest in a Fountain of Youth in his writings, letters, or contracts, how did he become so well-known for his thirst for vitality? Sorry, Prester John and Alexander the Great.

He's best remembered, however, for … Once his elderly soldiers bathed in it, they all emerged unrecognizable, having transformed into brawny 30-year-olds.Lafcadio Hearn collected Japanese fairy tales in 1898 and released a volume that included a story called "In Hearn's version, an old woodcutter happens upon a cool, clear stream in the forest. By continuing to use this site you consent to the use of cookies on your device as described in our cookie policy unless you have disabled them.

He was in search of new lands and treasures, including a mythical fountain of youth. This story serves as a cautionary tale encouraging moderation.Another Japanese Fountain of Youth story comes from the eighth century in Yoro Falls (pictured above).
Researchers attributed the relative health and age of the populations to their moderate, plant-heavy diet, limited sugar and alcohol, active lifestyle, close-knit communities, and regular destressing practices. Gonzalo Fernando Oviedo y Valdés, a Spanish court chronicler, was the first person to make an explicit connection between Ponce de León and the Fountain of Youth. So many companies claim to have found the mythical “Fountain of Youth” and sell skin care products by the ounce containing anti-aging ingredients … In the tale, Sir John visits a land in Polombe — thought to be modern-day Kollam, India. In 1521, he returned once again to the Florida coast, sending correspondence to both King Charles V and Pope Adrian VI that detailed his desire to settle the land, albeit with absolutely no mention of the Fountain of Youth. Edit them in the Widget section of the His heart became clean, his knowledge was heightened Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, who lived with the indigenous people in Florida after being shipwrecked there, wrote in his 1575 memoir of Ponce de León's foolish search for the Fountain of Youth. In the 1800s, Washington Irving mythologized the story into what we know today: a full-blown quest for the Fountain of Youth.

Additionally, the town hosts the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park, which became a tourist attraction in the early 20th century. Some of these eternal waters are floral-scented, and others are described as sulfuric from their mineral-rich contents.Fountains of youth made appearances in art through the centuries.

No one knows the location of the fountain of youth or if t even exists. He died shortly after in Cuba after the wound became infected.

Peter Martyr of Angleria, an Italian historian during the Age of Exploration, first published an account of the Fountain of Youth when writing of Juan de Solís, a 16th-century navigator. In fact, every hour, the well takes on the aroma of a different spice. Next came Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, the chief historian of the Indies, who wrote in 1596 of Ponce de León's effort to find a magical stream. The Text Widget allows you to add text or HTML to your sidebar. Martyr described "an island called by us Boinca, and by others Aganeo; it is celebrated for a spring whose waters restore youth to old men." Men who drink often from the well never grow ill and "always seem young." The Spanish explorer who searched for the legendary Fountain of Youth was - Answered by a verified Lawyer. The Text Widget allows you to add text or HTML to your sidebar. An additional inspiration may have been taken from the account of the According to legend, the Spanish heard of Bimini from the In the 16th century the story of the Fountain of Youth became attached to the biography of the Herrera makes that connection definite in the romanticized version of Fontaneda's story included in his Around the year 1909 she began advertising the attraction, charging admission, and selling post cards and water from a well dug in 1875 for Williams by Philip Gomez and Philip Capo.Walter B. Fraser, a transplant from Georgia who managed McConnell's attraction, then bought the property and made it one of the state's most successful tourist attractions.A spring that supposedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its watersDouglas T. Peck, "Anatomy of a Historical Fantasy,"