Editing Yucatán (section)

=== Exploration by Spanish soldiers ===
In 1513, [[Juan Ponce de León]] had already conquered the island of Borinquén (now [[Puerto Rico]]) and had visited Florida.<ref>{{cite web |author=Peck, Douglas T |title=Misconceptions and Myths Related to the Fountain of Youth and Juan Ponce de Leon's 1513 Exploration Voyage |url=http://www.newworldexplorersinc.org/FountainofYouth.pdf |publisher=New World Explorers, Inc |access-date=May 5, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409062720/http://www.newworldexplorersinc.org/FountainofYouth.pdf |archive-date=April 9, 2008 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> [[Antón de Alaminos]], who was with Ponce de León on this latest discovery, suspected that west of [[Cuba]] they could find new land. Under their influence, [[Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar]], supported by the governor of Cuba, organized an expedition commanded by [[Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (Yucatán conquistador)|Francisco Hernández de Córdoba]] to explore the seas west of the island.{{sfn|López de Cogolludo|2007|p=21}}

This expedition sailed from port of Ajaruco on February 8, 1517, to [[La Habana]] and after circling the island and sailing southwest by what is now known as the [[Yucatán Channel]], the expedition made landfall at the [[Yucatán Peninsula]] on March 1. There are discrepancies about where the first explorers arrived. Some say it was in [[Isla Mujeres]]. [[Bernal Díaz del Castillo]] places it at [[Cabo Catoche]], where they saw a great city which they named the «Gran Cairo».{{sfn|López de Cogolludo|2007|p=22}}