Santo Domingo (Part II): Faro a Colón

Friday, December 17

I left off part one of our visit to Santo Domingo with us missing the shuttle back to the port by just a second or two.  So, let’s continue from there.

We could have walked to the port, but that wasn’t our destination.  Not yet anyway.  Rather, we wanted to visit Faro a Colón (Columbus Lighthouse).  Taxis were few and far between at the Puerta de San Diego and the ones that whizzed by already had passengers.  So, what to do?

Map showing the lighthouse in relation to where the ship is docked.

Seeing us trying to flag down a taxi, three members of the Politur (Tourist Police) banded together to help us.  While one made a call on his cell phone, the other two stopped traffic so we could safely cross to the other side of the busy road.  A few minutes later, having negotiated an acceptable rate, we were on our way to the lighthouse.  It turns out that Jose, the cabbie, was a driver by day and a policeman by night.  He even gave us a peek at his badge to show that we were safe with him!

The politur are very helpful.

Having seen Google Earth images of the cross-shaped faro, I knew this was a lighthouse like no other that we’d seen.  In fact, the Columbus Lighthouse is more in the nature of a monument to the man who discovered America.  There is a light inside the building — more accurately, 157 lights — but as our guide, Emilio, later told us, it is lit only on a few special occasions because operating costs are prohibitively expensive.  When the lighthouse is operating, the reflectors create a cross in the sky that is visible from miles away.  I’ve read that it is a sight to behold.

this is The image that whetted our interest in seeing Faro a Colón.

[scanned from postcard]

Faro a Colón was built to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America in 1492.  The design of a British architect was chosen following a world-wide competition.  The 45-foot (13.5 m) high structure is 693 feet (211 m) long on the east-west axis, and 195 feet (58.5 m) long on the north-south axis.  Frankly, the concrete building is nothing much to look at from the outside, but we were there to see what was inside.

Construction began in 1948; the lighthouse was inaugurated in 1992.

Jose escorted us up the long walk to the monument and introduced us to Emilio, one of the official guides.  After we purchased our tickets ($3/person), Emilio walked us to the grand mausoleum that sits prominently in the top half of the cross.  Pointing to the black lead crypt in the middle, he explained that Columbus’s remains were buried in it after they were removed from the Santo Domingo Cathedral.  Hmmm!  Are they really?  There’s quite a bit of controversy surrounding this claim.

The mausoleum that holds Columbus’ remains is the first thing visitors
see upon entering the lighthouse.

History records that Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid, Spain in 1506.  Thirty years later, his remains were transported to Santo Domingo.  The story goes that after Hispaniola became independent, the remains were moved to Havana, Cuba.  Then, when Cuba gained independency in 1898, said remains were returned to Spain and buried in Seville.  Thus the controversy — the Dominican Republic adamantly maintains that the remains of the “Admiral of the Ocean” never left their territory.

[scanned from postcard]

I suppose it’s possible that both Spain and the Dominican Republic are accurate in their claim.  What’s to say that some of his bones were not left behind when they were moved from Spain, to Santo Domingo, to Cuba, and back to Spain.  Now all we need to stir up the controversy even further is to have Cuba claim that they have Columbus’ remains!

(In 2006, an announcement was made that DNA testing has proven that Spain has the right bones.  The Dominican Republic, however, continues to dispute the claim and has refused Spain’s offer to test the bones in their keeping, saying: “… We Christians believe that one does not bother the dead. …”  Click here to read the article.)

Saying that Jose had told him that he would return to pick us up in an hour, Emilio then gave us a whirlwind tour of the rooms lining the length of the monument.  These rooms contain miniature museums from countries around the world on one side, and the Caribbean nations on the other side.  There were lots of interesting things to see, but we had just enough time to skim the surface.  One could easily spend the day at the Columbus Lighthouse.

The rooms on either side of the east-west axis contain items
donated by countries around the world.

After showing us the anchor that is said to have belonged to the Santa María, one of the three ships that Columbus sailed to the new world on his first voyage (Niña and Pinta being the other two), Emilio concluded the tour.  He must have been happy with the tip we gave him as he then took us to another room to show us the vestments Pope John Paul II wore when he celebrated Mass at the lighthouse on the occasion of its inauguration in 1992.

As promised, we found Jose waiting for us outside the monument.  He wasn’t a happy camper and asked us why we’d taken so long.  Our response that Emilio had told us that we had an hour smoothed his ruffled feathers, but I wouldn’t want to be in Emilio’s shoes when those two next meet.

The ride from the lighthouse back to Grand Princess took mere minutes.  By 3:00p we were back on the ship, with plenty of time to get a bite to eat on our veranda while we awaited the 4:00p sailaway.

Scenes from our sailaway from Santo Domingo.

Our day in Santo Domingo was very rewarding, but we merely touched upon a tiny portion of the historic buildings, churches, and homes the Colonial city has to offer.  The Fodor’s guidebook was right on the money in recommending exploring the city over spending the day at the beach.  Santo Domingo is the kind of place we’d like to return to someday for more in depth exploration, and maybe a day or two at a nearby beach resort.  We’ll have to add it to our ever-growing list of places to re-visit.

Though it was a hot day, it wasn’t unbearably so thanks to light breezes and partly cloudy skies.  The temperature probably did reach the forecasted 82F (28C), but it didn’t feel that hot, probably because it wasn’t very humid.  Still, we were drained from having gone walkabout from 9:30a to 3:00p.  It was nice to just sit on the veranda until dinner time.

ohHH, my weary feet!

… Later

Tonight was the last formal night of the cruise.  We’ve long given up on traveling with formal attire on Caribbean voyages.  If what we saw around the ship this evening is anything to go by, so have a majority of the passengers on Grand Princess.  It might be different in the Botticelli Dining Room where traditional seating dinner is served, but certainly in the Da Vinci Dining Room we were in good company attire-wise.

Mui: crab, scallop, and shrimp salad with duo of caviar; Belgian endive, Boston lettuce, and tomato salad; broiled lobster tail and king prawns with grilled asparagus and rice.

Me: roasted tomato soup; Caesar salad; pan-fried fillet of rockfish with creamy potato and leek casserole.

Dessert: mandarin sorbet and Princess Love Boat … to share.

Now that I’ve caught up with the blog, I’m going to try and stay up a bit longer.  We’re gaining an hour in the wee hours of the night, so I want to make the most of that extra time.  However, seeing as how I’m already yawning and my eyes are drooping, I don’t hold out much hope for being awake for more than another half hour or so.

Next Up … Video: Santo Domingo