Spanish Scientists Uncover Two Mysteries Surrounding Christopher Columbus More Than 5 Centuries After His Death
Although Columbus died in the Spanish city of Valladolid in 1506, he wished to be buried on the island of Hispaniola, which is now divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. His remains were transported there in 1542, moved to Cuba in 1795, and then taken to Seville in 1898 after Spain lost control of Cuba in the Spanish-American War. On October 10, after two decades of testing and DNA research, forensic expert José Antonio Lorente confirmed that the incomplete remains at the Seville Cathedral belong to Columbus.
For a long time, many experts believed that the tomb inside the cathedral contained Columbus’s remains, but it wasn’t until 2003 that Lorente and historian Marcial Castro were granted permission to open the tomb and found the remains inside. At that time, DNA technology was not advanced enough to decode a small amount of genetic material to provide accurate results.
Seville Cathedral, where the remains of Christopher Columbus are housed. (Photo: Edwin Remsberg).
“Thanks to new technology, the hypothesis that the remains in Seville belong to Christopher Columbus has been clearly confirmed,” said Lorente, head of the research at the University of Granada. This conclusion was reached after the research team compared DNA from the tomb with DNA taken from Columbus’s brother Diego and his son Fernando.
The scientist also noted that part of Columbus’s remains may still be in the Caribbean. In 1877, an excavation at the Santo Domingo Cathedral in the Dominican Republic uncovered a small lead box inscribed with the words “The famous and distinguished man, Christopher Columbus.” The remains in the box are now buried at the Faro a Colón (Columbus Lighthouse) memorial in Santo Domingo Este.
The success in DNA analysis also sheds light on whether the explorer was Italian, a contentious issue in the scientific community. Some argue that Columbus was born in Genoa, while many others believe he was Polish, Spanish, Scottish, or Jewish. Research on his nationality is very complex due to several factors, including the large amount of data, but Lorente stated that the results from his study and colleagues are almost entirely reliable.
While the research team does not know for sure where Columbus was born, they believe it was likely Western Europe, possibly the city of Valencia in Spain. They speculate that Columbus may have concealed his Jewish origins or converted to Catholicism to avoid religious persecution.
| Columbus set sail on August 3, 1492, from the port of Palos, Spain, hoping to find a sea route to Asia for trade. With three ships named Niña, Pinta, and Santa María, Columbus and about 100 sailors embarked on a journey that would take them to the other side of the world. On October 12, 1492, the fleet landed in what is now the Bahamas, and by the end of that month, Columbus discovered Cuba, believing it to be mainland China. By December, the expedition continued to Hispaniola, which Columbus thought was Japan. On his second voyage in 1493, Columbus arrived in Puerto Rico and captured many indigenous Taino people as slaves. |
