Port Vell (The Old Port)
Port Vell is the oldest part of the Port of Barcelona, dating from the late Middle ages. It is also […]Distance: 0.07 km
The iconic Columbus monument column is a 60 meters tall landmark in the Port Vell (Old Port) of Barcelona, at the end of La Rambla street. It was designed for the 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition.
At the top of the column, a gallery offers stunning views of the Old port, the Gothic Quarter and La Rambla.
The statue is said to depict Columbus pointing towards the New World with his right hand, while holding a scroll in the left. However, this is not the case.
It is a commonly held belief that instead of pointing to the west towards the New World, the statue points east towards Columbus’s supposed home city of Genoa. This, however, is not true, as 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) and in effect is pointing at a point somewhere near the city of Constantine, Algeria.
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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.
- Getting here
- Metro: L3 (Drassanes), L4 (Barceloneta)