Synopsis
World renowned treasure hunter Robert Marx searched the Bermuda Triangle for 12 years for the Maravilla, a legendary Spanish galleon that sunk off the coast of the Bahamas in 1656. Spurring on the quest to find the ship, was a detailed, 300-page account written by one of the sunken ship's survivors. The Maravillas manifest, preserved for centuries in historical archives, indicated the vessel held a bounty of gold and silver worth tens of millions. The riches were bound for Spain, which had established a burgeoning mining industry in the New World. The doomed journey of the Maravilla was but one chapter in a dark period of history that saw the enslavement of indigenous peoples, widespread corruption and greed. To locate the Maravilla, Marx utilized his knowledge, research skills, his wits and modern technology to contend with the sea, the weather, nervous investors, government bureaucracy and even modern day pirates, who continually shadowed him as he closed in on one of the great finds of the 20th century. Marx was ultimately successful in locating the ship and bringing up most of its treasures--gold and silver coins and bars, and fabulous antiquities. But the books are not closed on the Maravilla. To this day, Marx contends that somewhere down there, there still may be the greatest treasure ever--a priceless life-sized, solid gold Madonna. The story of the Maravilla comes alive through the accounts of Marx, treasure divers and historians, as well as exciting footage of the actual hunt and discovery.