Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1893-04-19
CoLUMBUs's Last RESTING PLACE
HIS Tomb in the Quaint Old Cathedral at
Havana.

COLUMBUB's LAST RESTING PLAOE'
HIS Tomb in the Quaint Old Cathedral at
Havana.
Much has been written and said OF
late about Christopher Columbus, where
he was born, what he did and saw, and
where he died, but comparatively Few
persons know the different places where
the great discoverer was buried and in
what kind of place his body now lies.
Thousands visit Genoa, Palos, ana
Valladolid-how many have ever seen
the Admiral's final resting place in the
New World which he found? Broken
hearted, and in the most miserable pow
erty, Columbus, or as the Spanish call
him Colon, died In Valadoid, Spain, on
the goth OF May. 1906. His body was
first buried at the Convent OF st. Fran
els in the town where he died, and Tor
seven years its resting place remained
unmarked
At length, however, q tomb OF white
marble was raised over it, with the IA
nous inscription ordered by King Fer
dlnand:
"a Castillo Leon
NueVo mundo ulO lOIOh'
or, rendered in English:
$40 CASTLE and to Leon
Columbus gave new world.
But the voyagers wanderlngs were
not to end with his death. In 1913 his
bodv was transferred to the Carthusian
monastery of Las Cuevas in Seville,
where that of his son Diego, the second
to bear the title of "The Admlrai,'
was also laid. For twenty-three years
the bones of the father and son rested
in peace, and then they were taken to
Hispaniola, the Island of San Domingo,
where they were laid at rest once more,
this time in the great cathedral.
There they staid for 260 years, or IN
til the Island was coded 10 the French.
Then they were exhumed once more
and carried with great pOmp and majesty
to Havana, where they lie in the cathe-
dral TO this day.
The cathedral Of Havana was built by
the Jesuits in 1724, and is close to the
Plaza de Armas, little open square on
which the palace of the Captain General
or Governor of Cuba faces. 1t cannot
be called attractive in external appear
ance, for it is built OF very dingy,green-
ish-yellow stone beautifully daubed with
stucco. 1t has two dissimilar towers,
each of which is full OF big brazen bells.
The front is on a little open ''place,"
which is paved its whole length and
width, and has not spear OF grass or
sprout of a tree.
The style OF the interior of the build
ing is not so bad. 1t is very large, and
the frescoes and carving show art.
With its stone pavement ard big pillars,
its small, ill-cOlored Windows and afro
cious colored prints Of Biblical sub
iec.s, it is decidedly Spanish, still more
Cuban, and, more than all, interesting.
Way down the big aisle, on the left
hand side, and right down in the nave,
the dim light almost conceals the tnal
resting place of the bones OF Christie
pher Columbus. The tomb is of white
marble, and almost distressing in de-
sign. II is surmounted by very poor
bust of the great navigator, beneath
which is a slab bearing this Spanish in
scrption:
al O Restos YmGgen del grande Colonl
Mil Sigios daTad guardados en- Ia utns
Y en- Ia rembrandt de nuesra nacion.'
The original is q pretty bad piece of
composition, and may be rendered In
English as:
80. remains and image OF the great Colum5u
May thousand centuries stu Keep them Ia
urn
And in the memory Of our nation"
It's all very solmen while one stands
bareheaded before the tomb with a Hood
of eolored light about him and the smell
OF incense and the soft droning OF the
Spanish priests. But when he gets out
on TO the steps and looks across the way
at the squalld little buildings in which
the still more squalld natives live and
hears the screaming Of the tradesmen
on the neighboring calIe, half drowned
by the rafting Of passing teams, he can
hardly help but think, "What resting
place for him who gave new world to
the old :"
A short walk down the Gale San Ig-
nacio, or st. Ignatius street, leads TO
the Captain Generals palace, across the
Plaza de Armas from which is tho
Tiemplo de Colon, or Temple OF Column
bus. 1t is small building, square, one
story in height and built OF white mar
Bile. with q row OF columns along its
front.
A small marble shaft which stands
between the temple and the street Is
carved with words which tells that 1t
marks the spot where the Jesuitsfcund-
ed their first mission on this side OF the
ocean. The whole place is overgrown
with shrubbery, and high, very point
ed iron fence protects it from intru
ders.
There, in the slovenly little half
Spanish, half-American city OF Havana,
neglected and forgotten by everybody
save q few stray tourists, the ashes Of
the great Admiral have rested for near
In a hundred wears.