Monument a Colon - Columbus Monument, Barcelona

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Hey, coming from America as I do, meeting up with Colombus is important and this is sited as the point for which he left Europe to go and "discover" us.
More of the history of the monument itself can be found at:
http://www.aviewoncities.com/barcelona/columbusmonument.htm

Aside from the statue itself, the column has an elevator inside that you can take up to a height of about 50 meters, or just below the statue itself, to give you a good view of the surroundings.

What I found most amusing about this monument is the fact that Mr. Colombus is most known for his discovery of the Americas, but his statue is pointing toward AFRICA...did he get lost, or was he just saying "don't follow me".

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With a maritime heritage, Barcelona can’t miss it to have a monument dedicated to one of the most famous men in Spanish history, Christopher Columbus. Another reason for Barcelona’s monument is the disputed birthplace of Columbus. Barcelona is one of the candidates. The construction of the monument began in 1882, but due to lack of funds, it was just completed before the world exhibition in 1888. The column has a height of 60 metres, Columbus himself a height of seven.
Note that Columbus points to the sea – nice for a seaman, the right direction to India, but the completely wrong one to America.

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The Columbus Monument (Monumento a Colón with Mirador) is a 60 m (197 ft) tall monument for Christopher Columbus at the lower end of La Rambla.
It has elevator (lift) inside. It takes you to the top of the monument where you can enjoy beautiful view on the port and La Rambla.

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The Christopher Columbus Monument was built in 1888, on the site where he arrived after discovering America in1493.

From a distance, I found it huge [it is 197ft high] and impressive!

There were traffic lights, so I crossed the street to have a closer look at this impressive monument. You should do this too, as close up, it is even more interesting.
There were medallion's, lion & other sculptures making this an interesting memorial.

If you wish to find out more, visit the website below. You can even go up an elevator inside of the colom to the top, I didn't do this.

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This is not so much a thing to do tip as a thing you can't really avoid tip. Getting on for 200 feet high, the Barcelona Colon, also called a number of other things (Monument a Colom, Monumento a Colón and Mirador de Colón for a start) is a huge and impressive edifice at the "bottom" end of the Ramblas towards the sea and is difficult to miss. It is appropriate it should be at the sea because it commemorates the return of Christopher Columbus to Barcelona after "discovering" the Americas in 1492 and herein lies a clue to the title of this tip.

Columbus did not discover the Americas, despite what you might have been taught in school. He was beaten there by Giovanni Caboto, better known as John Cabot who has a similarly imprerssive monument and a pleasant seaward-lookinngstatue in Bristol in the United Kingdom. However, even Cabot wasn't the first European there as current scientific thinking credits the Vikings with doing it centuries before.

All this is, however, to quibble, and the monument is well worth a visit. It was built between 1882 and 1888, when it was opened for the Exposition and is to the design of Gaietà Buigas i Monravà. There is a whole world of imagery involved here from the statues (the one I have depicted is Father Bernat de Boli) and some wonderful bas relief. Sorry, I don't know the plural for bas relief!

If you are interested, Columbus himself stands an impressive 24 feet high and is of bronze. interestingly he is not pointing West towards the Americas, as you would expect but East, possibly towards his alleged homeplace of Genoa in Italy. Strange.

On a pleasant day like I visited, even in winter, there were plenty of people about and I think this must be well up the "must see" list for the city.

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Monument of Christopher Columbus stands at the end of Rambla street, near seaside of Barcelona. It was constructed in 1888 for a Universal Exhibition. Actually Columbus visited Barcelona on his way back from new found America (1492).

Place is not only known as a monument, but also nice panoramic point, as it is possible to lift up to see Barcelona – gothic quarter, Montjuic mountain, sea, so on. It is always a question to what direction Columbus hand shows in his monument … :)

This is the Monument of Columbus located in the the end of La Rambla by the sea. This place is no else but the location where Columbus arrived in his return from his trip to America. In this 60 meter monument Columbus is pointing towards the direction of America, the new land he just found.

Well, as Barcelona hold claim to the great man (ok, so does Itlay!) it seems only fitting for their to be a monument to him. Built in the 19th century.

You can take a lift to the top of the Monument a Colom for views over Barcelona.
Was €2.50 (adult)