Person

Francisco de Orellana

c. 1511–1546 · 16th century

Francisco de Orellana was a Spanish conquistador who made the first known European descent of the Amazon River. Separated from Gonzalo Pizarro's expedition east of Quito, he sailed down the Napo and the Amazon to the Atlantic in 1541–1542, a journey chronicled by the friar Gaspar de Carvajal. He died in 1546 on a second expedition to the river.

Francisco de Orellana
Image: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Omagua

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Francisco de Orellana. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/francisco-de-orellana
MLA
“Francisco de Orellana.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/francisco-de-orellana. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Francisco de Orellana.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/francisco-de-orellana.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Francisco de Orellana’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/francisco-de-orellana (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻