Monument a Colom, Barcelona, Spain - Jan 07

The Columbus Monument ( ca, Monument a Colom, ; es, italic=yes, Monumento a Colón or ''Mirador de Colón'') is a tall monument to Christopher Columbus at the lower end of La Rambla, Barcelona, Catalonia,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It was constructed for the

Exposición Universal de Barcelona (1888) The 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition (in Catalan: ''Exposició Universal de Barcelona'' and ''Exposición Universal de Barcelona'' in Spanish) was Spain's first International World's Fair and ran from 8 April to 9 December 1888. It was also th ...

in honor of Columbus' first voyage to the Americas. The monument serves as a reminder that Christopher Columbus reported to Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand V in Barcelona after his first trip to the new continent.

Description

Statue and column

At the very top of the monument stands a tall

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

statue atop a tall

Corinthian column The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

. The statue was sculpted by

Rafael Atché Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California * Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology * Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane Fiction * ...

and is said to depict Columbus pointing towards the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

with his right hand, while holding a scroll in the left. The statue points south-southeast (a more southerly direction than the adjacent Rambla Del Mar and almost a perfect extension of the direction of

La Rambla, Barcelona La Rambla () is a street in central Barcelona. A tree-lined pedestrian street, it stretches for connecting the in its center with the Christopher Columbus Monument at Port Vell. La Rambla forms the boundary between the neighbourhoods of th ...

) and in effect is pointing at a point somewhere near the city of Constantine, Algeria. To point at Genoa in northern Italy the statue would have to face east-northeast and point up the coastline. It is more likely that the statue is situated in the current way simply to have Columbus point out to sea underscoring his achievements in naval exploration. The statue is atop a socle, on which the word "Tierra" (land) is inscribed.

Pedestal

The column, hung with a device bearing an anchor, stands on an octagonal pedestal from which four bronze

winged victories In ancient Roman religion Victoria was the deified personification of victory. She first appears during the first Punic War, seemingly as a Romanised re-naming of Nike, the goddess of victory associated with Rome's Greek allies in the Greek mai ...

Pheme In Greek mythology, Pheme ( ; Greek: , ''Phēmē''; Roman equivalent: Fama), also known as Ossa in Homeric sources, was the personification of fame and renown, her favour being notability, her wrath being scandalous rumours. She was a daughter ...

s take flight towards the four corners of the world, above paired

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back ...

s. Four buttresses against the octagonal pedestal bear portrait

medallion A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

s that depict persons related to Columbus: #

Martín Alonzo Pinzón Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Aust ...

Vicente Yáñez Pinzón Vicente Yáñez Pinzón () (c. 1462 – after 1514) was a Spanish navigator and explorer, the youngest of the Pinzón brothers. Along with his older brother, Martín Alonso Pinzón (''c.'' 1441 – ''c.'' 1493), who captained the '' Pinta'', h ...

Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II ( an, Ferrando; ca, Ferran; eu, Errando; it, Ferdinando; la, Ferdinandus; es, Fernando; 10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), also called Ferdinand the Catholic (Spanish: ''el Católico''), was King of Aragon and Sardinia from ...

Isabella I of Castile Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as Queen consort of Aragon from 1479 until 1504 by ...

# Father Juan Pérez # Father Antonio de Marchena # Andrés de Cabrera, Marqués de Moya # Beatriz Fernández de Bobadilla, Marquessa de Moya Seated against the

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

es are four figures that represent four realms of Spain: the

Principality of Catalonia The Principality of Catalonia ( ca, Principat de Catalunya, la, Principatus Cathaloniæ, oc, Principat de Catalonha, es, Principado de Cataluña) was a medieval and early modern state in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. During most of its ...

, and the kingdoms of León,

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

, and Castile. Against the base of the pedestal between the buttresses are four additional statues: #

Jaume Ferrer Jaume Ferrer (, fl. 1346) was a Majorcan sailor and explorer. He sailed from Majorca to find the legendary "River of Gold" on 10 August 1346, but the outcome of his quest and his fate are unknown. He is memorialized in his native city of Palma, ...

, a Mallorcan cartographer # Luis de Santángel Bessant # Captain Pedro Bertran i de Margarit, next to a kneeling Native American. # Father Bernat de Boïl, preaching to a kneeling Native American. An

elevator An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They are ...

inside the column takes visitors up to a viewing platform at the top (just below the socle).

Plinth

The canted octagonal plinth is inset with eight bronze

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

panels that depict important scenes in Columbus's first voyage to the Americas: # Columbus and his son asking for food at the La Rabida Monastery # Columbus explaining his plans to the monks of the La Rabida Monastery # Columbus meeting King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in Córdoba # Columbus appearing at the council gathering in the Monastery of San Esteban in

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herita ...

# Columbus meeting the King and Queen in Santa Fe # Columbus leaving port from

Palos de la Frontera Palos de la Frontera () is a town and municipality located in the southwestern Spanish province of Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is situated some from the provincial capital, Huelva. According to the 2015 census, the cit ...

on 3 August 1492 # Columbus's arrival in the New World # Columbus greeting the King and Queen after his return in Barcelona Alternating with the bas-reliefs are eight coats-of-arms representing locations that Columbus visited: #

Huelva Huelva (, ) is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is between two short rias though has an outlying spur including nature reserve on the Gulf of Cádiz coast. The rias ...

# Córdoba #

# Santa Fe #

Moguer Moguer is a municipality and small city located in the province of Huelva, Andalusia, Spain. According to the 2022 census, it has a population of 22,623. Its surface area is , and its population density is . The present site of Moguer had been ho ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

# Cuba # Barcelona

Base

The base of the monument is a wide circle, with four staircases. Each staircase is flanked by two lions.

Construction

The idea of a monument to Columbus came in 1856 from Antoni Fages i Ferrer, who proposed that it be constructed entirely by Catalans, but he got nowhere with his plan for sixteen years. Finally in 1872 he gained the support of the mayor of the city, Francesc Rius i Taulet, and in 1881 the city passed a resolution to build the monument. A contest was held exclusively for Spanish artists to submit their designs with the winner being Gaietà Buigas i Monravà, a Catalan. Most of the money was privately raised; only twelve percent of it was financed by public funds. All of the funding came from Spanish sources and the entire construction (labour and materials) was done by Catalans. Construction began in 1882 and was completed in 1888 in time for the

Exposición Universal de Barcelona The 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition (in Catalan: ''Exposició Universal de Barcelona'' and ''Exposición Universal de Barcelona'' in Spanish) was Spain's first International World's Fair and ran from 8 April to 9 December 1888. It was also t ...

Removal Controversy

In 2020, there were calls to take down the statue. 250 people took to the streets on June 14, 2020, to protest in favor of removing the statue, with no damage or vandalism taking place. These calls were rejected by the city's mayor, Ada Colau. The pro-Catalunyan independence party Candidatura d'Unitat Popular (CUP) has been unsuccessful in attempts to get the statue removed in 2016, 2018, and 2020.

Other versions

Copies of the monument are located in

L'Arboç L'Arboç () is a village in the province of Tarragona and autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. L'Arboç contains a half-scale replica of the La Giralda in Seville. The building also contains copies of the Court of the Lions from the Alhambr ...

(

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tarr ...

; statue only), Shima Spanish Village (

Shima, Mie is a city in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 47,272 in 22,599 households and a population density of 270 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Shima hosted the 2016 G7 Summit. Geography Shima is loc ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

), Maspalomas (

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that co ...

), and miniature versions at the Catalunya en Miniatura park ( Torrelles de Llobregat,

) and at the

Mini-Europe Mini-Europe is a miniature park located in ''Bruparck'', at the foot of the Atomium, in Brussels, Belgium. Mini-Europe has reproductions of monuments in the European Union and other countries within the continent of Europe on display, at a scale o ...

park (

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium).

References

External links

* * * {{ACArt, country=ES Monuments and memorials to Christopher Columbus Monuments and memorials in Barcelona Ciutat Vella La Rambla, Barcelona Outdoor sculptures in Catalonia Statues of Christopher Columbus Tourist attractions in Barcelona World's fair architecture in Barcelona 1888 sculptures Buildings and structures completed in 1888 1888 establishments in Spain Art Nouveau sculptures and memorials Modernisme architecture in Barcelona Modernisme sculpture Monumental columns in Spain Victory monuments