Monument to Christopher Columbus

The Monument to Christopher Columbus was located in the plaza behind the government house in the city of Buenos Aires in Argentina. It was located in the Columbus Park, between the Casa Rosada and La Avenida La Rabida. The monument was a gift celebrating the 1910 Centennial of Argentine independence from Spain. It was sponsored by the Argentine-Italian community, led by Italian immigrant businessman Antonio Devoto. Work of the Italian sculptor Arnaldo Zocchi, the foundation stone of the monument was placed on May 24, 1910 and the inauguration took place on June 15, 1921. The statue was a source of pride for the Buenos Aires Italian community, planned for the centennial of Argentine independence in 1910. For previously maligned Italian immigrants to Argentina, sponsoring the statue, which had pride of place in front of the Casa Rosada, brought them a level of respect they had not previously enjoyed. Nineteenth-century liberal thinker Juan Bautista Alberdi did not considered southern European Catholics, such as Italians, desirable immigrants. The centennial of Argentine independence was an occasion to create new monuments in the capital. In particular, immigrant communities were invited to submit proposals to the Centennial Commission. The immigrant communities of Italy, Spain, France, and Germany vied for prominent placement of their monuments. The site for the Columbus st

Monument data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).