Witness History artwork

Columbus Lighthouse

Witness History

English - February 22, 2024 10:00 - 10 minutes - 4.64 MB - ★★★★★ - 853 ratings
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In 1992, Columbus Lighthouse opened in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.

It was designed to house the ashes of explorer, Christopher Columbus.

The huge memorial is built in the form of a horizontal cross and has 157 searchlight beams that when turned on project a gigantic cross into the sky. The light is so powerful it can be seen from over 300km away in Puerto Rico.

Tour guide and historian, Samuel Bisono tells Gill Kearsley about the struggle to get the monument built.

(Photo: Columbus Lighthouse. Credit: Gill Kearsley)