After years of speculation, Spanish scientist have concluded that Christopher Columbus bones are the ones found in the Faro A Colon in Santo Domingo, not the one's in Seville, Spain.
In a way this is good news, because of the following reasons:
1. Columbus wished to be buried in the island he loved best. It's always nice to honor someone's wishes, especially when they are not around to see if it was honored.
2. Despite the fact that I feel that the $200 million used to build the Faro A Colon was badly used money with good intention, it kind of feels good to know that at least that gigantic monument holds the very bones of the person it glorifies.
BTW, I say badly used money with good intention because Balaguer thought millions of people would flock to the DR to see the bones of Columbus, the great admiral. The only problem is that Columbus is not as popular as he used to be, so the return on that $200 million investment came in short of expectations. But, if the time was right it would have been one of the most popular tourist spot in the world, like the Eiffel Tower or the Empire State Building of the DR attracting millions of tourists who would have emptied much of their wallets while on vacation in the DR, helping the economy in the process. But timing is everything and unfortunately the Faro is there not receiving the amounts of tourists it was meant to attract.
3. Hopefully people from around the world (Columbus lovers and haters) would now come the SDQ to at least see his now confirmed bones. I least, I wish they come to see what's left of a man that was considered to be among the bravest of all for hundreds of years, a man that lead to everything the western hemisphere has become good and bad. Santo Domingo would benefit from such increase in tourism and tourism dollars.
Here is the link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1280441,00.html
In a way this is good news, because of the following reasons:
1. Columbus wished to be buried in the island he loved best. It's always nice to honor someone's wishes, especially when they are not around to see if it was honored.
2. Despite the fact that I feel that the $200 million used to build the Faro A Colon was badly used money with good intention, it kind of feels good to know that at least that gigantic monument holds the very bones of the person it glorifies.
BTW, I say badly used money with good intention because Balaguer thought millions of people would flock to the DR to see the bones of Columbus, the great admiral. The only problem is that Columbus is not as popular as he used to be, so the return on that $200 million investment came in short of expectations. But, if the time was right it would have been one of the most popular tourist spot in the world, like the Eiffel Tower or the Empire State Building of the DR attracting millions of tourists who would have emptied much of their wallets while on vacation in the DR, helping the economy in the process. But timing is everything and unfortunately the Faro is there not receiving the amounts of tourists it was meant to attract.
3. Hopefully people from around the world (Columbus lovers and haters) would now come the SDQ to at least see his now confirmed bones. I least, I wish they come to see what's left of a man that was considered to be among the bravest of all for hundreds of years, a man that lead to everything the western hemisphere has become good and bad. Santo Domingo would benefit from such increase in tourism and tourism dollars.
Here is the link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1280441,00.html
