Posh Hotels

Columbus in Barcelona

Standing over 60m tall at the bottom of the Ramblas, the monument of Christopher Columbus is a popular choice among photograph loving tourists. The statue of Columbus himself stands 7m tall atop the huge column close to your barcelona hotels.

In October 1492 having set off a couple of months before from Palos de la Frontera in the southwest of Spain, Columbus found land and confirmed his place in history of being the first European to discover AND successfully colonize the Americas. 500 years previous to this a Norse, Leif Ericsson, discovered it and set up a temporary settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows.

It was in 1881 that Barcelona City Council decided to erect the monument and finally in 1888 during the ceremonies marking the Universal Exhibition, it was dedicated to the renowned world explorer. The decision was taken to build the monument in the city because it was Barcelona that Columbus decided to disembark in on his return from the Americas.

Nowadays anyone is able to enjoy the panoramic views from the top of the monument 60m above the rest of the centre of the city. With an elevator now installed in the middle of the monument, visitors can easily access a spectacular view of the city.

If you look north you will be able to see the Gothic Quarter the bustling Ramblas below. Looking easterly you can see the two towers which mark the entrance to the Olympic marina. To south you can see the beautiful Montju?c Hill and the castle and finally if you look to the west you can look upon the spectacular Mount Tibidabo and the Collserola Tower.

The column is made entirely of cast iron and the statue of Columbus on top is of bronze. The bottom of the monument is a circular structure that is flanked by two cast iron lions. These have been used for many a funny photographic opportunity!

So if you’re in Barcelona anytime soon, take this great opportunity and go up the monument, near your hotels in barcelona. From May to October it is open from 09:00 – 20.30 and costs 2.12€ for adults and 1.27€ for children up to the age of 12.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 10:45 am and is filed under Posh Hotels. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.