Monument sights in Spain
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A
11 March 2004 Memorial
This moving monument to the victims of the worst terrorist attack on European soil at Atocha station is partially visible from the street, but the glass tower is best viewed from below. A glass panel shows the names of those killed while the airy glass-and-perspex tower is inscribed with the messages of condolence left by well-wishers in a number of languages in the immediate aftermath of the attack. It’s simple but powerful. You may have to queue to enter.
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B
Mirador de Colom
High above the swirl of traffic on the roundabout below, a pigeon-poop-coiffed Columbus keeps permanent watch, pointing vaguely out to the Mediterranean (to his home town of Genoa?). Built for the Universal Exhibition in 1888, the monument allows you to zip up 60m in the lift for bird’s-eye views back up La Rambla and across the ports of Barcelona. It was in Barcelona that Columbus allegedly gave the delighted Catholic monarchs a report of his first discoveries in the Americas after his voyage in 1492. In the 19th century, it was popularly believed here that Columbus was one of Barcelona’s most illustrious sons. Some historians still make that claim.
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C
Parroquia de Santa Ana
The Parroquia de Santa Ana, dating from 1280, has a wealth of antique religious imagery. A strange tradition has it that every woman who kicks ‘El Negro’, a 16th-century tomb that has tiles depicting a recumbent knight, will find a husband. Poor El Negro has been protected by benches and other obstacles to prevent damage to this precious artwork, but women still want husbands so El Negro keeps getting a stiletto where it hurts.
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D
Conjunto Monumental de la Cartuja
Founded in 1399, the Conjunto Monumental de la Cartuja became the favourite sevillano lodging place for Columbus, King Felipe II and other luminaries. In 1839 the complex was bought by a Liverpudlian, Charles Pickman, who turned it into a porcelain factory, building the tall bottle-shaped kilns that stand incongruously beside the monastery buildings.
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E
Pizarro statue
A large equestrian Pizarro statue by American Charles Rumsey looks down over Plaza Mayor. Apparently Rumsey originally sculpted it as a statue of Hernán Cortés to present to Mexico, but Mexico, which takes a dim view of Cortés, declined it, so it was given to Trujillo as Pizarro instead.
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F
Nelson's Anchorage
South of Trafalgar Cemetary, Nelson's Anchorage pinpoints the site where Nelson's body was brought ashore from HMS Victory - preserved in a rum barrel, so legend says. A 100-tonne Victorian supergun, made in Britain in 1870, commemorates the spot.
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G
Capilla de San José
Located between Calle Sierpes and the parallel Calle Tetuán/Velázquez is Capilla de San José, with breathtakingly intense baroque ornamentation.
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