Monument to the Capitulations - Granada

The group of bronze sculptures at the top of the monument depicts a meeting between Christopher Columbus and Queen Elizabeth seated on her throne.

This meeting made possible the first expedition to America through the agreement of the Santa Fe surrenders. On the sides of the base there are two reliefs depicting the conquest of Vélez-Málaga and the signing of the capitulations by the Royal House of Santa Fe .

As early as the 1890s, several Spanish cities such as Madrid were planning to erect their own monuments to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America. In the case of Granada, a large triumphal arch was projected. However, since the city did not have the necessary budget, it was withdrawn and a public tender was declared void.

The first stone of the memorial was laid at the end of June 1892 . Mariano Benlliure sent the pictures at the end of August . The commemoration eventually failed completely; it did not even take place on October 12 as originally planned, and Queen Regent María Cristina of Habsburg-Lorraine refused to travel to the city to dedicate the monument to him. This led to an uprising in the city that ended in fires, riots, and barricades . The despised Grenadiers informally inaugurated the monument on November 2, 1892 and it was placed on the Paseo del Saló.

In 1962, following a decision taken in 1961, the monument was moved from its original location to its current location in Plaza Isabel la Catòlica, near Isabel's burial place in the Royal Chapel of Granada.

Willem Vandenameele