Las Palmas, Gran Canaria - 15 October

Dearloves
Wed 19 Oct 2005 22:17
Casa de Colon, otherwise known as the Residence of Christopher Columbus, proved to be a fascinating day out for us.  The house was previously occupied by the Governor of Las Palmas, and Columbus stayed there when he was en route to the Americas, in order to have the rudder of one of his boats repaired.
 
One room has been made into a simulation of the cabin of Columbus on the Santa Maria:
 
 
There were lots of old maps of the Atlantic and the World:
 
 
Here is a copy of one of the ships' blocks:
 
 
Pip took this picture of a replica of the Santa Maria:
 
 
The house itself is very beautiful.  It has many original gothic features, such as its entrance, and is made up of rooms arranged around a central courtyard.
 
 
Central Courtyard
 
Escape Tunnel in cellar
 
We also saw some parrots there:
 
 
It is situated in the old town of Las Palmas (very different from the rest of the city!)
 
 
We have found lots of statues of dogs, decorated by local artists and put up in celebration of the Canary Islands' origins.  The islands were named by the Romans, who found large dogs here and Canary is derived from "canine".