2-888-684 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Cathedral of Havannah, [Cuba], 1850. 'The exterior has no pretension to architectural beauty. The structure, of stone, is simple and massive...The great object of interest...is the tomb of Columbus...The remains of Columbus have more than once been removed, and it is questionable if they have even now found a final resting-place...Columbus...died at Valladolid [in Spain], on the 20th of May, 1506...in 1536, in compliance with his dying request, they were conveyed do Hispaniola...On the cession of Hispaniola, or St. Domingo, to the French, the Spaniards removed his remains to Havannah. On opening the vault, on the 20th of December, 1795, there were found the fragments of a leaden coffin, with some bones and a little mould, evidently the remains of a human body: these were put into a case of gilt lead, which was again enclosed in a coffin covered with black velvet'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.