|
|
Who are we?
Contacts
Collaboration
Site Map
Inscriptions of Maspalomas <
Inscriptions of Spain <
Inscriptions <
Areas of Interest <
Welcome
In the small town of Maspalomas, on the south coast of Gran Canaria, along a lagoon that might have been some sort of natural harbor in earlier centuries, there are several rocks with inscriptions that commemorate Christopher Columbus's last Atlantic crossing, which started from there.
|
Rocks and barrels |
Spanish inscription |
|
|
Click on the photos to enlarge them. |
Trilingual rock |
Photos: Laurens van der Zee, 2011 |
|
German inscription |
French inscription |
English inscription |
|
|
|
|
Comment
These inscriptions are largely self-explaining. But note that in several places the occurring cardinal numbers should be replaced by the required ordinal numbers.
Christopher Columbus's stopover in Maspalomas is a rather well-known historical fact. But the inscriptions described here tell us that Columbus set off to America "from this point", "on the 25th of May, 1502". About 2 km west of Maspalomas, there is another Columbus memorial stating that "Columbus visited this beautiful place on 24 May, 1502", i.e. the previous day. Two stopovers in two days within a distance of 2 kilometers? What does this mean?
For some technical and historical details, see our page that deals with the Maspalomas Christopher Columbus Column.
As for the global name of the Caribbean islands dicovered by Columbus, there is some confusion resulting in different designations.
The expression "Indianische Kanaren" used in the German version of the inscription of Maspalomas is not really a customary one. There may be a confusion between "indianisch" (= native American) and "indisch" (from India).
The most curious expression is "West Indies" because these islands are located in the extreme east of America (or of India, as Columbus thought). Okay, Columbus went westwards to reach these islands but nobody would say that New York is a western city of the United States because from Europe you must go west to go there!
Internet
Please be aware of our legal reservation concerning any Internet reference.
|
Address / Owner |
Content / Topics |
|
Official touristic site of the Spanish tourist office. |
|
|
In the English Wikipedia. |
Detailed encyclopaedic article on Spain. |
|
In the English Wikipedia. |
Detailed encyclopaedic article on the town of Maspalomas. |
|
In the English Wikipedia. |
Detailed encyclopaedic article on the explorer, colonizer, and navigator Christopher Columbus, who discovered America for the Europeans. |
|
In the English Wikipedia. |
Short encyclopaedic article on the Caribbean islands often called West Indies since Christopher Columbus's discovery. |
Books
Using the following links to amazon you can find the books you are interested in. On the amazon sites you can retrieve books entering words, titles, authors, or ASIN / ISBN numbers in the related search fields. You will never be obliged to purchase anything if you do not want to.
|
Amazon Sites |
|||||||
|
Simply use the search field of one of the national amazon sites after clicking on one of the following links. |
|||||||
|
(for Canada) |
(for the USA) |
(for Germany,
Liechtenstein, |
(for Austria) |
||||
|
(for the United Kingdom) |
(for Spain) |
(for France) |
(for Italy) |
||||
|
Please note the delivery conditions of the different sites. In most cases it is more convenient to use the site that is located in the same country as the shipping address. |
|||||||
For our presentation of Spanish books, see Spanish Literature (German).
|
Holidays in Maspalomas? Excellent idea! But where to stay? |
|
Whether you are looking for a room, an apartment, a hotel, a guest house,
or any other accommodation, |
Arrival by Public Transport
For the arrival in Maspalomas, see Inscriptions of Maspalomas.
As far as I know, there is no public transport available. But if you arrive in Maspalomas in car, leave it not too far from the lagoon and walk along the water.
Indications concerning the arrival correspond to our personal knowledge or even experience, but we cannot assume any responsibility for their rightness. When you are reading this page, things may have changed in reality.
Thanks
Thanks a lot to Laurens van der Zee, who made the photos and gave important information on the local environment of the commemorative rocks!
Hans-Rudolf Hower, 2012
Frequently-asked Questions - Webmaster
Last updated: April 4, 2016
