FARO A COLÓN

This immense grey concrete edifice is the capital's most recent and probably least attractive monument. However, its illumination and blessing by the Pope was the highlight of the 1992 celebration of the ^500th anniversary of the "discovery" of the New World. The building stands on a hill in the center of the Mirador del Este park, in the eastern part of the city, on the very spot where it was originally founded in 1496.

The project to build a monument to honor the memory of the great admiral dates back to 1852. Dominican historian Antonio del Monte y Tejeda launched the idea of erecting a colossal edifice on the site of America's first city, La Isabela. The collaboration and financial participation of all the countries of the American continent, as well as that of the European capitals, were obviously required. The initial project envisaged a statue the size of the Colossus of Rhodes, embracing the two American continents between its two arms. In November 1927, the Pan-American Union (now OAS: Organization of American States) decided to launch an international competition for the construction of the lighthouse. Nearly 450 projects were submitted by 1,926 architects of 44 nationalities. The ten best were selected in April 1929 and exhibited at the Palacio de las Artes in Madrid. On October 17, 1931, an international jury, meeting at the National School of Fine Arts in Rio de Janeiro, chose the design by English architect J.-L. Gleave: a gigantic, elongated cross, placed on the ground, symbolizing evangelization and progress. At night, the lighthouse would offer a fairy-tale spectacle: two great blood-red rays forming Columbus's cross would be encircled by the white cross of progress. The cross would be reflected in the sky, as if suspended above the city.

The project was built in reinforced concrete, on the hill where the original city of Santo Domingo stood. Construction began on April 14, 1948, then was interrupted. It was not resumed until 1987. The inauguration finally took place on October 6, 1992. The monument officially cost 135 million pesos, but the Dominicans claim it cost much more.

The Faro a Colón corresponds exactly to the project: the imposing edifice (310 m long, 44 m wide and 33 m high) houses at its center the remains of Christopher Columbus, in the white marble mausoleum, now guarded by an incessant ballet of sailors.

A museum traces the history of the monument. Another evokes the period of the Conquest and colonization.