Statues - Hither & Thither

Site Search:

Valverdón
Salamanca (prov.)

Valcuevo

Monumento en el Teso de Colon

Monument on Columbus' Peak

1866

Valverdón / Monumento en el Teso de Colon

Description

Stone pyramid surmounted by a globe (which was gone in 2006).

Inscription(s)

A Cristóbal Colón
en memoria de las conferencias habidas
en este sitio de Valcuevo
para el Descubrimiento del Nuevo Mundo
       Erigido en 1.866
       por Dn. Mariano Solis y Garcia.
       Restaurado en 1979 por D. Rafael Sanchez Fabres

(To Cristopher Columbus in memory of the conferences took place in this site of Valcuevo for the discovery of the New World. Erected in 1866 by Don Mariano Solís y García. Restaured in 1979 by Don Rafael Sánchez Fabrés)

Annotation

The monument is erected by Don Mariano Solís, who owned the location. In 1486, at this farm-house three miles west of Salamanca, Columbus was entertained by Diego de Deza, prior of the Dominican convent of San Esteban, while the Junta of Spanish ecclesiastics considered his projects (see also the inscription in the nearby chapel of the Hacienda Zorita.
The small farm-house still stands at a distance of about 8 km west of Salamanca, and there is a tradition among the peasants that on the crest of a small hill in the vicinity of the house, now called, "Teso de Colon" (Columbus' Peak), Columbus used to confer with his advisers or pass the time in solitary meditation.

This engraving shows the situation of the farmstead of Valcuevo in the 19th century. The arcade is gone and on that place is an open yard with an old stone well.
The farmer told me that Columbus had took water from this well. Next to the oil drums there are a few stone pillars (one visible), also from Columbus time, which seem to be the foot of the pillars on the engraving.

The open yard with the well is named "Plaza de D. Mariano Solis"
The Valcuevo farmstead. The yard with the well is just left of the farmer's car.

Location:

This is the most remote Columbus monument I ever visited. My brother and I stayed in the Hacienda Zorita Hotel close to Valverdón. At the reception nobody knew where the monument was - I had a foto from the hotel website. After a call to probably a wise person in the village, we were told there was a monolith somewhere outside. From the provincial road Salamanca-Ledesma we had to take a narrow dirt road. After about 2 km we had to park our (rental) car on a farm-yard, since the road was too bad. At that spot we had not seen the monument. We walked further, passed the Valcueva farm… and saw the monument on top of a hill.

Peter on the last part of the road to Columbus Peak.

René starting to climb this last part.

Sources & Information

Valcuevo en la historia (the photo of the globe and the illustration of the engraving from this site).
Néstor Ponce de León, The Columbus Gallery (New York, 1893), p. 82-83. (listed it in Valcuerbo).
J.M. Dickey, Christopher Columbus and his Monument Columbia (1892), pp. 278.
LaPosadanet.com, El cerro de Colón

Location (N 41°3'9" - W 5°44'8") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

Item Code: escl011; Photograph: 11 May 2006
Of each statue we made photos from various angles and also detail photos of the various texts.
If you want to use photos, please contact us via the contact form (in Dutch, English or German).
© Website and photos: René & Peter van der Krogt

Your banner here? Click for information.

This engraving shows the situation of the farmstead of Valcuevo in the 19th century. The arcade is gone and on that place is an open yard with an old stone well.	The farmer told me that Columbus had took water from this well. Next to the oil drums there are a few stone pillars (one visible), also from Columbus time, which seem to be the foot of the pillars on the engraving.
The open yard with the well is named "Plaza de D. Mariano Solis"	The Valcuevo farmstead. The yard with the well is just left of the farmer's car.