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".
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