Where, oh Where, is Christopher Columbus

The things you learn in Seville

I guess I never really wondered or cared much about Christopher Columbus. When I got old enough to know that what I was told in elementary school wasn’t entirely true; I would side-eye someone when they said “Christopher Columbus discovered America”. But I learned during the Seville Cathedral (Catedral de Santa María de la Sede) tour there is/was some uncertainty regarding his current whereabouts.

We think he is here.

Back to Seville

When our American friends were arranging their travel from the States I suggested they consider leaving via the Seville airport¹. First, we often find cheaper fares leaving from Seville to the US. Second, it is a lot closer to our home than Lisbon. And finally, it would give them the opportunity to explore another city before departing. Of course, based upon our prior visit in March, Denise and I were certainly up for another visit.

During our last visit we took a free walking tour, but did not enter either the Cathedral or Alcazar. So in advance of their visit, I purchased 4 senior tickets on Viator’s “Skip the Line” Alcazar/Cathedral tour. Our tour with 31 English speaking people started right on time and our tour guide was very knowledgable. While we enjoyed the tour, I would caution folks that have difficulty standing and/or walking for 3.5-4 hours. If this is you, you will want to split it into two separate tours with one in the morning and the other after a leisurely lunch.

Approaching the tower.

As an architecture aesthete, I was interested in the mixture of Moorish, Gothic and Renaissance styles. To me, the Cathedral is akin to asking four blind men to describe an elephant after allowing each to touch a different part. A perfect example of this is the tower. First constructed in 1172 the bottom 2/3rd served as the minaret. As one is called to prayer five times a day, instead of stairs the interior is ramps that allowed the Mullahs to ride horses up its 31 flights. (When we first arrived at the Cathedral we were invited to climb the tower…not too strenuous and great views.)

The mosque was “Christianised” in the mid-13th century, and became the Bell Tower. Later, during the Renaissance, the top-most section was added and a further (9 decade) expansion of the Cathedral was undertaken. The official explanation for this is:

"Let us build a church so beautiful and so grand that those who see it finished will take us for mad." — The Cathedral Chapter

Or put more simply, They had more money then sense.

St Christopher, the patron saint of travellers, overlooks the tomb.

Back to Chris

I doubt Chris would mind my informality…so I will proceed. It seems Chris died in Spain after his fourth trip to the Americas. (Frankly, I didn’t recall he had made that many.) His wish was to be buried in the “New World” so at first his remains were sent to Hispaniola. Both Spain and Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) wanted him back and this is where it gets a bit murky. It would seem first he was sent back to a Spanish convent. However in 1537, his bones along with those of his son were sent to Santo Domingo.

However, 2 centuries later, his bones became a bargaining chip with the French as the Spanish Empire ceded all of Hispaniola, including Santo Domingo to the French. Clearly, they couldn’t trust the French to look after this national hero…so everyone agreed to ship him to Havana. Another century, another war…this time between the Spanish and America. Worried that Havana would fall to the Americans, they whisked him back to Spain. Or did they?

It would appear most of him and his son returned to Spain and were buried in the Cathedral, but perhaps not all. In 1877, workers found a box that seemed to contain his bones and the proud people of Santo Domingo jumped for joy. But 20th century, DNA technology has matched Chris (the one that is in Spain) and his son’s bones. So the Spanish insist that he is in the Cathedral. It should be noted, however, that some rather significant bones are missing from the remains in Spain. So perhaps both countries are right.

I suppose it says something about me, that of all the facts, stories and legends provided during our nearly 2 hours at the Cathedral, it was this one that I found most interesting. Oh well, till next week….

Fica bem!

Another Cathedral photo below:

A Huge Thank You: I guess I should be more direct in asking you folks to share my posts on Social Media or with a friend via email. Or perhaps I happened to write something that just struck a chord with you. Last week’s post came very close to being the most read post to date, and beat the previous record for most new subscribers…there were over 100 within just 3 hours. Thank you!

Thanks Again: As promised, today I share another question from my recent reader survey. Specifically, what posts do you like the most? Many people commented that they like the variety…so I suspect I will continue to mix it up a bit but focusing most on our observations of Portuguese culture, what surprises us as an American and what we have learned, the places we visit, and our little renovation project.²

1. As luck would have it, the morning we dropped them at the airport it was foggy. Later we learned that their flight was cancelled and 2 bus loads of passengers were provided an all expense paid, 6-7 ride to Madrid. Upon arriving at Madrid airport they learned, of course, that they had missed their flight to the US. They were provided a hotel room and booked on a flight leaving the next morning. As I write this, it is noon…they have not left. Departure now listed for 13:30…will keep you footnote readers apprised.

2. More for my footnote readers…which has nothing to do with the footnoted sentence. It is now 10 minutes after the last departure time. Good news…online it now says “Planned”…but for when? Wait…my WhatsApp just chirped. Friends report flight cancelled and another night in Madrid. They are saying that the FAA outage is the reason. You can’t make this stuff up!

And yet it actually did get worse. They were then booked on a flight the next day to Gatwick which required them to recover their bags and check in again with British Airways. The time allowed between flights was 90 minutes. Well my friends made it to the British Airways counter 50 before boarding time, but were told international flights are closed one hour before the boarding time. Result, they spent another night in a hotel before flying on to Orlando the next day. And there is some question as to who is paying for all this. It may take them longer to get reimbursed then the time they spent with us.