“Discovering Columbus”, explores Barcelona’s relationship with the discovery of America
Guided by Maria Carme Roca and her novel “The Columbus Enigma”, the tour reveals the city at the time when the famous explorer set out on his expedition to the New World
Published a year ago by Edicions 62, Maria Carme Roca’s novel L’enigma Colom (The Columbus Enigma) acquaints the reader with the figure of Christopher Columbus and his relationship with the city of Barcelona during the years before and after his voyage to the West Indies.
The novel stars Guerau de Gualbes, the bastard son and former employee of a nobleman, and emphasises the Catalan influence on the expedition, recreating the city at the time with rigorous historical accuracy.
L’enigma Colom, or Discovering Columbus, is the title given by the author herself some months ago to a walking tour of 15th century Barcelona. Over a period of two hours, historian and philologist Maria Carme Roca reveals what the city of Barcelona was like inside the city walls when all attempts were being made to maintain the local autonomous institutions despite all attempts by King Ferdinand to take control of them.
The tour takes in the main city gates, some of the more emblematic civil and religious monuments, the prisons, and the final steps taken by those awaiting execution, among other aspects, all of which are contextualised by the author by means of excerpts from her novel.
Discovering Columbus, guided tour
Date and time: Second Saturday of every month at 10.30 am. The tour is given in Catalan.
Departure point: In front of the Columbus monument, Plaça de la Pau, by the seaward entrance.
Cost: General 12€, free for children under 12
More information here