Diego Columbus's Palace(Son of Chris)

We had a wonderful visit to the restored palace of the son of Christopher Columbus. The furniture, armor and paintings are all allegedly 15th century. It was very interesting how small the people were given the size of the armor and beds. One art piece which is shown in one of the pictures was a wood carving which our guide stated was of the Virgin Mary and the Father and the Son on either side of her. An interesting doctrinal statement in the 15th century. I was also interested in the spiral staircase constructed out of coral rock. I thought I had accomplished something making one out of steel! You will also notice the guns which were only about 4 feet long but had about a 50 caliber bore for the musket ball. The last picture is of the kitchen. It is hard to believe that someone could exist in a room where the temperature was unbearable without a fire and having a fire in the room.

The following was taken from a website describing what was a beautiful structure which was remarkably large given the resources and time in history

Alcázar de Colón/ Columbus Palace A 22 room stone home built by Columbus son, Don Diego and his wife. (Colon is the Spanish word for Columbus). They resided here during his term as viceroy. This fortress was built during the early 1500s to be the seat of the viceroy court. Diego and his wife Maria de Toledo lived here until 1523, when he was recalled to Spain. Other relatives lived here for decades afterwards. This building was abandoned in 1770 and turned into a garbage dump. Cave-ins in 1809 and 1835 left the building in ruins.

It was restored by highly skilled stone cutters, with added refinements made during several later restorations. All rebuilding was done to remain as faithful as possible to the original construction and decor. Not one single nail was used in it's construction. It opened to the public on Columbus Day in 1957.

The palace sits in a large open square, Plaza de Armas or Plaza de Espana, Always some activity happening here. A nice place to be. Looks beautiful at night with the lights on. It now houses a collection of furniture and household items from this period