Celebrating Columbus Day

Today is one of those wonderful holidays where some lucky folks are off of work or out of school. The rest of us are a little jealous. But it is an American holiday, and sometimes it’s good to stop and think about why.Why are we celebrating Columbus? It all starts in 1453. Prior to that year, the Europeans enjoyed the exports of Asia (i.e., the Indies) by land travel. These products included spices, exotic fabrics and ceramics, opium, and the bubonic plague. This trade had been booming since around 200 BC, during the Greek and then Roman empires. But when the Ottoman Turks took over in 1453, the land routes suddenly became quite hostile and the Europeans began turning to the sea.

Marco Polo spearheaded the sea trade movement.

Christopher Columbus (or Cristóbal Colón in Spanish) was a mariner and self-educated man who enjoyed the works of Marco Polo, Ptolemy, and Pliny the Elder, as well as the Apocrypha. He would later produce a book explaining how his exploration was a fulfillment of biblical prophesies. His brother was a cartographer, and together they cooked up this great idea involving bad math, worse geography, and a fast route to Japan by going west instead of east.

The math just didn’t work out…

Tradition tell us that his idea was rejected because everyone just knew the world was flat and he would sail right off the edge. Reality tells us that his idea was rejected because everyone knew his math was bad and his route wouldn’t work. His proposal was turned down by Portugal, England, Genoa, and Italy–even Spain, at first.

Geography Just Doesn’t Work That Way

Then, in 1492, flush from their victory over the Moors, Ferdinand and Isabella saw him one last time. And they decided to just go with it. Columbus would get his ships, his crew, and his titles of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and Viceroy and Governor of whatever country he found (plus 10% of all treasure).

Columbus subsequently discovered the Bahamas, Cuba, Panama, and some parts of South America in his four voyages. Not North America, though–that goes to Leif Ericson, about 500 years earlier. And Giovanni Cabot, who sailed in the name of England, and thus was not popular with colonial America. We adopted Columbus as our champion instead. Out of spite.

Columbus was in, Cabot was out.

Columbus died in relative prosperity, enjoying a quiet apartment in Spain, though he spent a short stent in jail for committing atrocities against the natives under his governorship. The Crown also stripped him of his rights to a cut of the treasure, which his heirs eventually won back after his death. He now resides in Sevilla, Spain.

Tomb of Columbus

Sunday in Sevilla, and Columbus

In Israel, we covered history from 2,000 B.C., to 30 A.D., to 70 A.D., and a little later, as you have to dig through the later years to get to the earlier years.  However, today we jumped up to 1492, when someone sailed the ocean blue.

Giralda Cathedral in Sevilla, Spain

This cathedral is one of the largest that exists (size-wise), and is purported to be the third-largest cathedral in Europe. The reason we’re here is one of the cathedral’s inhabitants, one Señor Cristobal Columbo. Ok, so the massiveness of this cathedral and its detailed Gothic design is part of the reason as well. It is hard to comprehend how much detailed stone carving and fashioning this building contains, as every square inch seems to have figures or designs carved into it.

Even the Waterspouts Are Intricate

And here lies Mr. Columbus.  Columbus was quite the traveler, as we’re all aware.  However, he also did a bit a travel after his prime, actually, after his death. Posthumously, he visited Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and then back to Sevilla–where he received a DNA test in 2006 to prove that the Seviilans really did have a reason to throw his 500th anniversary party.

Tomb of Columbus

Other interesting tidbits about this cathedral: the Renaissance artist and Spanish master Murillo debuted here with the first Madonna paintings–the source of art inspiration even today. Also, Spain’s most valuable crown is housed here, glittering with 11,000 jewels and the worlds largest pearl.

The Most Valuable Crown in Spain

And for those with a strong cardiovascular system, the 300-foot Giralda Tower. Originally, this entire complex was a mosque, which the catholic church repurposed and renovated into a larger cathedral (you can pick up the moorish influence in much of the architecture–especially note the horseshoe arches, such as in the windows of the bell tower). The minaret became the bell tower, but you can still take the ramp to the top, up which the muezzin would ride on horseback 5 times a day to call the faithful muslims to prayer.

Giralda Bell Tower with Horseshoe Arches

We will be back in Sevilla next Sunday, but next up is Granada!