Columbus Viewpoint

Inside the column there is an elevator that takes us up to the observation deck. The unusual panoramic view of the city of Barcelona enjoyed from the lookout located in the hemisphere beneath the feet of the statue is one of the main attractions of the monument dedicated to the discoverer Christopher Columbus.

The monument was approved by the Barcelona City Council on May 10, 1881, and was inaugurated on June 1, 1888, by the regent queen Maria Christina of Bourbon, accompanied, among many other authorities, by the King of Italy, Umberto I, and the President of the United States, Grover Cleveland.

The monument, designed by Gaietà Buïgas i Monravà, is 60 metres tall. At street level, there is a circular base with four access stairways 6 meters wide and a sculptural ensemble with two lions on either side of each stairway. On the base of the column, we find eight reliefs depicting scenes from Columbus's life. These reliefs are the work of various sculptors' workshops. Just above, there is an octagonal base with four buttresses and four sculptural groups with symbolic representations of Catalonia, Aragon, Castile and León, and sculptures of historical figures linked to Columbus's voyages: Bernat de Boil, Pedro de Margarit, Jaume Ferrer de Blanes, and Lluís de Santángel.

The column is made of iron and is of Corinthian style, with sculptures of four caravels at the lower part, flanked by mythological animals holding the city's coat of arms, and is crowned by a capital with four sculptures symbolizing America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. It took nearly a year to cast the iron for the column (205 tons). Just above the column is the hemisphere on which the statue's feet rest.

The statue dedicated to Columbus is 7.7 meters high and weighs 42 tons. The statue, which depicts Christopher Columbus with his right arm pointing towards the sea and his left holding navigation charts, is the work of the sculptor Rafael Atché.

Columbus's finger points towards the sea, and it was traditionally said that it pointed towards America, but America is actually behind him. There are different theories about the direction in which the finger points, which is half a meter long: The first says that the orientation does not matter, since the gesture of Columbus's statue is metaphorical and points towards the sea (if it pointed at Collserola, nobody would understand it). The second theory claims that the finger of the sculpture points towards America by sea, and the third says it is pointing towards Genoa, the discoverer's hometown. The statue's feet are different sizes. The right foot measures 1 m long and the left 1.13 m.

THE VIEWS

The Columbus lookout offers a spectacular panoramic view of the city of Barcelona. The Gothic Quarter, the city's historic buildings such as the Cathedral, Santa Maria del Mar, or the Basilica of La Mercè, a panoramic view of La Rambla, Montjuïc, the coastline, Collserola, the new Barcelona of the Forum… taking the elevator up to the lookout provides us with a privileged and unprecedented view of the city of Barcelona.