Photo of Colombus Monument taken with iPhone 13 Pro

The Columbus Monument (, ; or ''Mirador de Colón'') is a tall monument to

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

at the lower end of La Rambla,

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It was constructed for the Exposición Universal de Barcelona (1888) 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 metalloid ...

statue atop a tall Corinthian column. The statue was sculpted by Rafael Atché and is said to depict Columbus pointing towards the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

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 considered the most well known street in central Barcelona. A tree-lined pedestrian street, it stretches for connecting the in its center with the Columbus Monument, Barcelona, Christopher Columbus Monument at Port Vell. La Ra ...

) and in effect is pointing at a point somewhere near the city of

Constantine, Algeria Constantine (), also spelled Qacentina or Kasantina, is the capital of Constantine Province in northeastern Algeria. During Roman times it was called Cirta and was renamed "Constantina" in honour of Emperor Constantine the Great. Located somewh ...

. 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 A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

from which four bronze winged victories or Phemes take flight towards the four corners of the world, above paired

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...

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 in ...

s that depict persons related to Columbus: # Martín Alonzo Pinzón # Vicente Yáñez Pinzón #

Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II, also known as Ferdinand I, Ferdinand III, and Ferdinand V (10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), called Ferdinand the Catholic, was King of Aragon from 1479 until his death in 1516. As the husband and co-ruler of Queen Isabella I of ...

Isabella I of Castile Isabella I (; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''Isabel la Católica''), was Queen of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon ...

# 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 (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

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

Principality of Catalonia The Principality of Catalonia (; ; ; ) was a Middle Ages, medieval and early modern state (polity), state in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. During most of its history it was in dynastic union with the Kingdom of Aragon, constituting together ...

, and the kingdoms of León,

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

, and Castile. Against the base of the pedestal between the buttresses are four additional statues: # Jaume Ferrer, 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 (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

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

Plinth

The canted octagonal

plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

is inset with eight bronze

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , 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 Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

# 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 Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the southwestern Spain, Spanish province of Huelva (province), Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is situated some from the provincial capi ...

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 municipality of Spain and the capital of the Huelva (province), province of Huelva, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. Located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits betwee ...

# Córdoba #

# Santa Fe # Moguer #

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

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.

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-Catalan 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 (

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

; statue only), Shima Spanish Village ( Shima, Mie,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

), Maspalomas (

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

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

Torrelles de Llobregat Torrelles de Llobregat () is a municipality in the Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'' of the Baix Llobregat in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Catalunya en Miniatura, the largest of the 14 miniature parks present in Europe, is loca ...

) and at the

Mini-Europe Mini-Europe is a miniature park located in the Bruparck entertainment park, 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 ...

park (

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

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 Barcelona 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 Sculptures of lions