Note IV-25 — Chapter IV · COLUMBUS ON THE COASTS OF HONDURAS, NICARAGUA, AND COSTA RICA. 1502-1506.

The final burial-place, not only of Columbus, but of his son Diego, and of his grandson Luis, was the cathedral of Santo Domingo. For seven years after his death the remains of Columbus lay in the convent of San Francisco at Valladolid. Then they were removed to Seville and placed in the monastery of Las Cuevas; and in 1536 were transferred to Santo Domingo. When Española was ceded to France in 1795, the Spanish naval commander asked permission to remove the remains to Cuba, which was granted; and what were supposed to be the remains were so removed midst pomp and ceremony in December-January following. But later investigations, the result of long-standing suspicions, satisfied many that a blunder had been committed; and that the bones of Columbus still rest at Santo Domingo. This has been proved beyond a doubt by the recent researches of the distinguished French savant and Americaniste A. Pinart.