PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR. AN ELABORATE COLLECTION OF COLORED VIEWS
Page 61 – THE CONVENT OF LA RABIDA
THE CONVENT OF LA RABIDA.—In marked contrast with the great modern structures near it was the reproduction at the Exposition of the Convent of La Rabida, or, to express its title more correctly, the Convent of Santa Maria de la Rabida, which means The Convent of St. Mary of the Frontier. It was to this convent that Columbus went when most wearied and discouraged and found shelter for himself and his child, and it was at the town of Palos de Moguer, now a mere village, but then a flourishing seaport, that he obtained assistance in building his vessels and from which he finally sailed. The reproduction of the convent cost fifty thousand dollars, and it was appropriately devoted to the exhibition of the Columbus relics. The convent, as its exterior shows, was a plain, solid building with the usual internal arrangement of a monastery of the period, two stories in height, with a central court and cells and gathering rooms. The Columbus relics shown at the Exposition were numerous and interesting, including the original copy of the contract with the sovereigns of Spain and the commission they gave the navigator as “Admiral of the Ocean Seas.” The government of Spain and the descendants of Columbus loaned other documents of almost priceless historical value, and one of the anchors and a cannon used by Columbus on his flagship, the “Santa Maria,” were also secured. The weather-beaten old structure, the relics of the famous voyage, the documents upon which the eyes of Columbus himself had rested and which his hand had touched—all these combined to make a visit to the place one of absorbing interest.