Understand
Bonavista is where modern North America began. On June 24th, 1497, and Italian explorer sailing under the British flag for King Henry VII, made landfall in the New World. "O Buona Vista," meaning "Oh Happy Sight," Giovani Caboto was said to exclaim after nearly two months at sea. News of the existence of the this New Found Land - and the riches of the Grand Bank fishery - spread throughout Europe after Cabot's return journey across the Atlantic.
In the last decade of the 19th century, Bonavista was a booming town that serviced the 20,000 people living on the peninsula.
Today Bonavista is home to some of the friendliest folk in Newfoundland - and boasts several of the province's most important historic sites.
