Plaza de Colón is one of the most visited places in Madrid. It pays a tribute to Christopher Columbus whose statue is located there, even though it has been moved several times. In the blog of Estate One we like to go into the past and recall what our city was like. Today, we are going to talk about Plaza de Colón. Some weeks ago, we wrote about Calle de Alcalá in our section A Walk into the Past.

A COMMEMORATIVE MONUMENT

Plaza de Colón is located in one of the best areas of the centre of Madrid as it stands between Calle Jorge Juan, Calle Serrano, Calle Goya, Paseo de la Castellana and Paseo de Recoletos. In Plaza de Colón, we must highlight Monumento al Descubrimiento de America which of a neo-gothic style and was erected to commemorate the return of Christopher Columbus from his first journey to America.

We must add that Teatro Fernán Gómez, formerly known as Teatro de la Villa, is also located there. However, the monument dedicated to Christopher Columbus goes a long way back, till 1881. It started to be built during the reign of king Alfonso XII and it was finished in 1885. Nevertheless, it was not inaugurated till 1892 when king Alfonso XII had already died. The monument was placed in the middle of the square next to the Casa de la Moneda (which does not exist nowadays) and the Biblioteca Nacional.

A CHANGE OF LOCATION

In 1973, Plaza de Colón was remodeled and the commemorative monument was placed in Jardines del Descubrimiento which is located on the eastern side of the square. It was not until 2009, that the town hall decided to move it again to its original place in the centre of the square.

The statue of Christopher Columbus is more than 3 metres high and its pedestal has a height of 17 metres. The town hall spent 800.000 reales, which was the Spanish coin of the time, in the original project of the statue. However, that statue is not the one we have nowadays as this one was carved by Jerónimo Suñol.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…?

Did you know that the statue of Christopher Columbus was not carved in Spain? It was carved in Rome by Jerónimo Suñol and it was made with white Italian marble. When it was finished, it was taken to Madrid and placed in Plaza de Colón.

Old pictures: Madrid Antiguo

Nowadays picture: Laura Pacifico