Travel : Puerto Rico
Aguadilla 2005
Columbus Cross Monument
We took a day trip to Aguadilla to see where Christopher Columbus landed on Puerto Rico. The maps were not the best and we travelled the main street of Aguadilla, around the plaza, and back tracked a little to find the landing spot in a park by the sea. Aguadilla was a busy place and traffic was heavy and slow — so happy we didn't need to park near the plaza. Weathered, windswept boarding with chipped paint covered most of the storefronts. The town square seemed small compared to other cities in Puerto Rico and the huge Old World church crowded most of the space. Make sure to ask for a map of Puerto Rico at the car rental. It was the best and most detailed map we had, even compared to those from the airport. Within a year's time, there are many more maps available on the web. Tourism in the region must be growing.
On his second voyage, Christopher Columbus discovered Puerto Rico when he landed near Aguadilla in 1493. There is some debate as to whether Admiral Columbus first stepped foot on the island near Aguadilla or Aguada. In 1893, four hundred years later, a monumental cross was created in honor of Christopher Columbus' landing spot in Aguadilla. The cross was destroyed by an earthquake in 1918, and then reconstructed in 1937 in Parque de Colon (Colon Park). Parque de Colon is Aguadilla's major park located near the sea. It contained playgrounds, picnic areas, historical monuments, and a huge tree house called La Casa del Arbol, built close to Columbus' Cross. Aguada also commemorated Columbus in 1928 with a cross much like the original monument in Aguadilla, and claimed itself as the discovery point of Puerto Rico. Many argue that the Aguadilla Bay was a more suitable choice to accommodate over a thousand men and almost twenty ships compared to Aguada. As many points of interest in west Puerto Rico, when we arrived, we weren't sure if we were there, there — no tourist booths, pamphlets, guided tours, pushy vendors, or neon colors. That was the charm of it.
Commemorative Plaque – Inscription
On the base of Columbus' Cross, there was a commemorative plaque. The first half of the inscription was in Spanish and the second half was the English translation:
PARA CONMEMORAR EL DESEMBARCO EN ESTAS PLAYAS…ALMIRANTE DON CRISTOBOL COLON EL DIA 19 DE NOVIEMBRE DEL 1493.
ESTE MONUMENTO FUS ERECTO POR LA JUNTA DEL CUATRO CENTARIO DEL DESCUBRIMIENTO DE PUERTO RICO EL DIA 19 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 1893.
RECONSTRUCION POR LA ADMINISTRACION DE RECONSTRUCION DE PUERTO RICO EN EL ANO 1937.
TO COMMEMORATE THE LANDING OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS ON NOVEMBER 19, 1493.
THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED ON NOVEMBER 19, 1893 BY THE BOARD OF THE FOURTH CENTENARY OF THE DISCOVERY OF PUERTO RICO.
RECONSTRUCTED BY THE PUERTO RICO RECONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATION
IN THE YEAR 1937.
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