


Cordoba, World Heritage Site
Tiempo Córdoba

The Catholic Monarchs and Christopher Columbus

The world famous navigator, Christopher Columbus, born in 1451, spent part of his life in Cordoba, under the patronage of the Christian Monarchs.

In the 1480s, Christopher Columbus was officially received by the king and queen in the Castle of the Christian Monarchs of Cordoba, where they had established their court in the years leading up to the conquest of Granada. When Columbus unveiled his plan, the king appeared cold and uninterested, his mind taken up more by the war against the Nazaris (the Arabs from Granada) than any other affairs. The queen, however, showed considerably more interest in the project, and took the decision to submit Columbus' plans to a committee of experts just as had happened in Portugal. Between 1487 and 1488, while he was waiting in Cordoba for the monarchs' decision, Columbus met Beatriz Enríquez de Arana, a Cordoban girl from a humble family, who bore him a child on 15th August 1488 - his son Hernando, historian and future biographer. Columbus never married the young Cordoban girl, but he did mention her in his will to his legitimate son Diego Columbus.

In the Castle of the Christian Monarchs, as a decorative feature of the spectacular gardens, there is the sculpted group of Columbus before the Catholic Monarchs.

Ayuntamiento de Córdoba