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Cuccaro Monferrato
Alessandria (prov.)
Piemonte

Monumento del 500° anniversario

500th anniversary monument

1992

Cuccaro Monferrato / Monumento del 500° anniversario

Description

Boulder with the name of the square.

Inscription(s)

PIAZZALE
CRISTOFORO
COLOMBO
1992

Cuccaro

Cuccaro is one of the villages in the surroundings of Genoa claiming to be the birth place of Christopher Columbus. A branch of the Colombo family lives (lived?) in this village. In 1893, Néstor Ponce de Léon wrote about this village in his chapter on Columbus portraits (p. 14):

"There is a picture at Cuccaro in the house of Fidele Guglielmo Colombo, which has been preserved for long years by the branch of the Colombo family residing in this place. Cuccaro also claims to be the birthplace of Columbus, and the family asserts in addition that this is the original Jovius portrait, but according to experts it is only a poor copy of it. (…) Feuillet de Conches says that there is another portrait in the Castle of Cuccaro, and that tjhis is the only copy of the Florence portrait."

I visited Cuccaro on 8 August 2001 and found, except for the street names after him, three memorials of Columbus, all dating from 1992:

The Piazzale Cristoforo Colombo: a little square, in fact a small parking place for ten cars, with a large memorial stone, illustrated above.
A plaque at the Municipio.
A plaque at the Parish house.

Here is a interactive map with the locations of the monuments.

Sources & Information

Maurizio Tagliattini, The discovery of North America: a documented history (1991, 1998), chapter on Columbus' origin.

Locatie (N 44°59'33" - E 8°27'22") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

Item Code: itpi003; Photograph: 8 August 2001
Of each statue we made photos from various angles and also detail photos of the various texts.
If you want to use photos, please contact us via the contact form (in Dutch, English or German).
© Website and photos: René & Peter van der Krogt

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