Poio. Christopher Columbus House Museum

About this heritage

The Christopher Columbus House Museum is located in Portosanto and is also known as the « Casa da Cruz » (Cross house ). Situated in front of the shipyard in which was built the Nao Santa María (also renamed as “La gallega” in Spanish or “the Galician” in English), which participated in the expedition to the Indies in 1492.

The thesis that Christopher Columbus was of Galician origin is a theory that has been maintained over time for more than 100 years. The house is the “Cristóbal Colón Galego – Celso García de la Riega” association´s headquarters. In it, apart from documents and proves which support the Galician origin of Christopher Columbus, there are expositions and conferences.

At the “Casa da Luz” door´s foot is located a traditional stone cross with an inscription that reads “Juan Colón R” 1490. Documents of the time shows the existence of a family named Columbus in the house and who were also sailors.

This evidences and some more, support Celso García de la Riega and other scholars and historians theory, that the America´s discoverer was Galician. The visit to the house-museum will also allow you to discover other curiosities about Poio.

In order to complete the visit you have different options, as Poio is situated in Pontevedra´s estuary and has all the advantages of belonging to the Galician Rías Baixas. San Xoán monastery, Combarro seafaring village, beaches and an elaborate gastronomy, are some of them.

To learn more

The municipality of Poio is located in the province of Pontevedra, its coast belongs to the Arousa estuary. It has Pontevedra, Sanxenxo, Meis and Meaño as neighbouring town councils.

Touristically it is known for its beaches, restaurants, pine-forests and also due to its heritage and cultural offer. It is essential to visit San Xoán monastery, declared National monument in 1971.

Combarro belongs to Poio, a traditional seafaring village that must be visited and which was declared historical site in 1972. You will be able to visit its hórreos (traditional raised granaries) and their seafaring houses. Raxo beach and the big Laño beach are also an obligatory visit.

Changing back to our topic, Christopher Columbus and his origin, Christopher was a sailor and cartographer with an unknown origin (could be Italian, Portuguese or Spanish) who was at the Crown of Castile service. It is well-known by everyone as the America´s discoverer in 1492. This milestone, propitiated the European global expansion and the colonization by the dominant countries.

Some documents found in Pontevedra´s archive, apart from others which proved that a great quantity of people had “Colón” as a surname and who had been related to the discoverer´s relatives, are the principal facts which make people considerate Galicia as the authentic birthplace of Christopher Columbus.

To know it better

In Christopher Columbus square, in Poio, we can visit the house-museum Christopher Columbus. Thanks to different models, screens, videos and resources, we can learn about this historical character and verify the theory of Christopher Columbus birth in the municipality of Poio. Previously, this property was known as “Casa da Cruz” (Cross house). The museum´s documentation shows that a sailor family surnamed Colón lived there, as stated in the inscription on the cross located in the main door´s foot says “Juan Colón R” 1490.

Poio is a municipality located in the middle of Pontevedra´s province, with about 34km2 it is divided into five parishes: San Salvador, San Xoán, Combarro, Samieira and Raxó.

The municipality of Poio has several points of interest in which different landscapes can be seen. Among them, we can mention the Poio monastery – dated from the VII century- in which the library is located, with more than 100.000 pieces and the “Mosaics museum” - the historical-artistic complex of Combarro – which is one of the biggest group of hórreos (Traditional raised granaries) in Galicia. Also Combarro´s marina where you can appreciate an traditional seafaring and fishing village of Galicia.