Sunday Surprise - Castillo Monumento Colomares

Sunday Surprise- my visit to Colomares

It was April 2011. I was doing edits for my first novel –MONOGAMY TWIST – though not at home. A friend of ours had invited us to visit him at his apartment near Benalmadena, in Spain. Part of my holiday was working on the edits and sending them from internet cafes and from a friend of my friend’s house since his internet service wasn’t up and running yet at his new holiday home.

It was not all writing, though. We did lots of tourist things around the area and saw some beautiful places. One of the most memorable for me, as a wannabe hobby historian, was our visit to Castillo Monumento Colomares, Benalmadena Pueblo.

The fantasy of this small sight was utterly breathtaking. Set high on the hills the view down to the water was fabulous but what were we there to see?

A fantasy world of miniature castles and monuments which have a real antique ‘feel’ about them though it’s all an illusion- a folly without the tumbled-down effects.The site was built by Dr. Esteban Martin y Martin between 1987 and 1994. He built the miniature splendour in honour of Spain’s rich historical seafaring traditions- and in particular Christopher Columbus’ first sail to the Americas in 1492.   

Columbus set off to sail to Japan but found the Bahamas sort of got in the way and thus ‘discovered’ the Americas. (Norse sailors had been there already, at least a few centuries earlier, but their voyages were not recorded in quite the same way that Columbus’ was  -and the impact on Europe not as noticeable as the voyages of Columbus were.)

I can’t describe what all of these building represent but they were so intricate, covering many different architectural styles, I just wandered around with my mouth open and catching flies.

We were there early in the morning, it was April, and it was very quiet as you may see since rain was expected to fall. During the height of the tourist season there are guided tours and the place can be very busy. I consider myself lucky to be able to have photos that show off these fantastic structures without too many people in them. If you look closely at the one above that's me standing on the prow!

For more photographs pop in and see them on my Pinterest board - Castillo Monumento Colomares. http://pinterest.com/nanjar/

Have a Happy Sunday.

Slainthe!