CASTILLO MONUMENTO COLOMARES
(1987-1994)
Introduction

Welcome to this unique monument dedicated to the Fifth Centenary of the Discovery of America.  Each stone, tile and piece of cement combines to form an incredible architectural work of art, from which a well defined historical end is achieved.  This being the express will and desire of its creator.

 This castle – monument was conceived, constructed and financed by Dr Esteban Martin Martin, a Spaniard born in 1926 in Granollers and from a Zamoran family. After graduating from the University of Valladolid in Medicine, Dr Martin emigrated to the United States in 1950 where he worked as a surgeon until the eighties. He returned to Spain in the seventies, bought this land, called La Carraca, and it was here that he built this monument, without realizing, that it would also become his last resting place. He died in 2001 (the family keep his ashes in the monument, beneath the altar of the church, dedicated to Saint Isabel of Hungary).

 It was during the eighties that certain winds moved and carried on to 1992. The year 1992 was a milestone for memories and commemorations.  At national and local levels, for the public and private sector, a lot of time was invested in making this particular year more special than any other.  Dr Martin, inspired by his enthusiasm, didn’t allow this opportunity to pass putting his own health and personal estate at risk.

 With his focus now on art, architecture and Spanish history, he laid the first stone of his monumental project in 1987, and thanks to the help of two specialists from Málaga (master bricklayers and quarry workers) the three men, working day in and day out over seven long years, built this amazing tribute to the Fifth Centenary of the Discovery of America and the Spanish speaking world (La Hispanidad). It’s completion in 1994 became a reality.  It is interesting to note that Dr Martin single handedly carved and sculpted each piece in situ.

 And this place? What is it? A book sculpted in the form of a monument, where its dates, facades, scripts and legends, … are the words and stones that tell the story. A reminder of Christopher Columbus’s First Journey and La Hispanidad. A unique piece of architecture, liberally executed, and its decorative form and construction combines a mixture of Gothic, Romanesque, Byzantine and Mudejar art, which adapts to the period that it commemorates.

You will notice numbers exposed on the walls of the buildings corresponding to the chapters of this book, placed there by Dr Martin for clarification.  The entire monument is meticulously thought out and nothing is left to chance. (The symbology of the main building is not included in the text-guide as it consists of an exterior walk way).

In summarizing, a reminder that Castillo Monumento Colomares continues to run as a family project and private property, and thanks to contributions from its visitors, the maintenance, improvement and conservation is made possible.