The Columbus Lighthouse, or Faro a Colón, is a mausoleum and museum in Santo Domingo Este. The Scottish architect Joseph Lea Gleave won a 1931 competition with 455 entrants from 48 countries. The judges included Eliel Saarinen and Frank Lloyd Wright. Teófilo Carbonell supervised construction after it resumed.
The cross-shaped reinforced concrete structure measures 680 by 195 feet (210 by 59 meters). It projects 157 light beams into the sky in the shape of a cross, plus a rotating beam. The foundation was dug in 1948, work stopped until 1986, and the lighthouse was inaugurated in 1992, for the 500th anniversary of Columbus's first voyage. It cost about 70 million dollars.
Dominican authorities say it holds the remains of Columbus, though Spain's DNA tests showed Seville Cathedral holds his remains. They have not allowed tests on the remains here. Gleave conceived a mausoleum, but at President Balaguer's request it became a museum too.
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