n the Piazza Acquaverde,
facing the railway station, consists of a marble statue fitly embowered
amid tropical palms, and is composed of a huge quadrangular pedestal, at
the angles of which are seated allegorical figures of Religion,
Geography, Strength, and Wisdom. Resting on this pedestal is a large
cylindrical pedestal decorated with three ships' prows, on which stands
a colossal figure of Columbus, his left hand resting on an anchor. At
his feet, in a half-sitting, half-kneeling posture, is an allegorical
figure of America in the act of adoring a crucifix, which she holds in
her right hand. The four bas-reliefs on the sides of the pedestal
represent the most important events in the life of the great discoverer:
(1) Columbus before the Council of Salamanca; (2) Columbus taking formal
possession of the New World; (3) his flattering reception at the court
of Ferdinand and Isabella; (4) Columbus in chains. It is as well that
this, the saddest of episodes, should be remembered, because great
actions are as often as not emphasized by martyrdom.

The first stone of the monument was laid September 27, 1846, and the
completed statue formally dedicated in 1862. It bears the laconic but
expressive dedication: "_A Cristoforo Colombo, La Patria_" (The Nation
to Christopher Columbus).

Genoa claims, with the largest presumption of truth, that Christopher
Columbus was born there. The best of historical and antiquarian research
tends to show that in a house, No. 37, in the Vico Dritto Ponticello,
lived Domenico Colombo, the father of Christopher, and that in this
house the Great Admiral was born. In 1887 the Genoese municipality
bought the house, and an inscription has been placed over the door. To
give the exact date of Christopher's birth is, however, difficult, but
it is believed to have occurred sometime between March 15, 1446, and
March 20, 1447.

Whether Columbus was actually a native of Genoa or of Cogoletto--the
latter is a sequestered little town a few miles west of the former--must
ever remain a matter of conjecture. True enough, the house in which his
father followed the trade of a wool-carder in Genoa is eagerly pointed
out to a stranger; but the inscription on the marble tablet over the
entrance does not state that the future discoverer was really born in
it. This stands in a narrow alley designated the Vico di Morcento, near
the prison of San Andrea.

On the other hand, the little town hall at Cogoletto contains a