Mirador Colón - Barcelona Columbus monument & viewpoint
Built for 1888 World Exposition, the Columbus Monument has an elevator to a small enclosed Panoramic viewpoint below the crowning statue by sculptor Rafael Atche
About Mirador Colón - Barcelona Columbus monument & viewpoint
The Barcelona Christopher Columbus monument, known as Mirador de Colón is a 60m tall cast-iron column supporting a statue of Christopher Columbus and was constructed for the 1888 Universal Exhibition.
The Columbus monument was built to honour columbus' fist voyage to the Americas. On his return from the new world Columbus reported to Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand V in Barcelona.
The statue at the top depicts columbus pointoing towards the new world while holding a scroll. However the statue is not actually pointing west and many believe he is pointing towards his home town of Genoa. This is not true as the statue points south-southeast towards the Northern African Coastline. Most likely the statue is orientated this way to have him pointing out to sea.
Around the stone pedestal are statues of eight people related to Columbus and four figures that represent four realms of Spain: the Principality of Catalonia, and the kingdoms of Leon, Aragon, and Castile. The base has four staircases, each flanked by two lions.
The Christopher Columbus monument can be found in the Plaça del Portal de la Pau near to the Barcelona Maritime Museum in the Port Vell area of central Barcelona.
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