Italy finds stolen Columbus letter announcing discovery of Americas

Columbus, an Italian from the north-weste port city of Genoa, was the first European to land in the New World in 1492.

On February 15th 1493 he penned a letter about his discovery from his Caravel the Niña, while making his way back to Europe from the Americas.

Once Columbus arrived in Europe, several copies of letter in various languages were dispatched to different European countries to spread the word.

Only a handful of these copies have survived - one of them in Florence.

The letter was stolen from Florence's Riccardiana library, with the thieves replacing it with a forged copy.

The stolen letter was later bought by a private purchaser for €400,000, who then donated it to the Library of Congress in Washington in 2004. The letter is today valued at some €1 million.

In a press release the Italian police said they had managed to track down the document thanks to "efficient collaboration with US authorities over the illegal traffic of stolen artefacts".

The letter is of extraordinary historical interest and will be unveiled to the Italian press on Wednesday.

More details to follow.