People all over the world know Christopher Columbus, but not all of them know Alessandro Geraldini.
Born in Amelia from a noble family in 1455, he had Grifone a Humanist, as a tutor, who taught him not only philosophy, but also politics and diplomacy.
As his brother Antonio was a plenipotentiary ambassador of king Ferdinand of Aragon, he lived for a long time at the Spanish Court where he was given military and diplomatic offices of great importance and later, after being ordained a priest, he became Apostolic Protonotary and Great Chaplain. A close friend of Christopher Columbus, Alessandro succeeded in convincing the King and the Queen to support the project of the Genoese navigator which had already been rejected by the High Council (the highest consultative organism of the king) as it was considered heretical. This project, in fact, was believed to be aimied at demonstrating that the Earth was round, against the Tolemaic dominating conception of that period, supported by Saint Agostin and Nicolò de Lira, according to which the Earth was flat.
In 1519, Alessandro, at the age of 64, fascinated by the New World, decided to live among those populations in order to convert them to the Christian religion. After an adventurous journey, which lasted 200 days (described in detail, and sometimes similar to a fairy tale, in his book Itinerarium ad Regiones Sub Aequinoctiali Plaga Constitutas), he reached Santo Domingo.
He became the first bishop, had a majestic Cathedral built, which still exists, and lived there until his death in 1525.
During the celebrations for Christopher Columbus, which took place in 1992, Alessandro GERALDINI, his life and mission were also put in evidence; many conferences and meetings, attended by important scholars were organized both in Amelia and in Genoa and have contributed in a determining way to spreading the knowledge of Alessandro around the world.
Today, in Amelia, his birth place, is still perfectly preserved by his family descendants, where many objects, writings and belongings of the high Prelate are preserved.
Amelia will solemnly celebrate this Figure with a series of initiatives which will bring back to our minds the evangelization of the New World and will give pilgrims who come to Italy for the Jubilee of the Year 2000 the opportunity of knowing the continual religious vocation of the Town.
Furthermore, the town can also be found inside the franciscan itineraries of which it has a lot of evidence in its surroundings.