On the 20th May 1506, almost two years after his final visit to the West Indies, Christopher Columbus died in Spain. Three centuries later his last request was fulfilled: his remains were transferred to the cathedral in Santo Domingo for interment. When Spain was forced to cede Hispaniola to France in 1795, one of the coffins in the Columbus vault was hastily taken to Havana. It remained there until Cuban independence in 1898 when the Spaniards wanted Columbus brought back to Spain, he was moved to the cathedral in Seville (still having adventures in even death).
Dominicans don't agree with this version, however, they are convinced there was a mix up when the coffin was removed in 1795. Apparently, Christopher Columbus’s coffin was left behind, and it was the coffin of his son, Luis Colon, which eventually found its way to Seville. During renovation work on the cathedral in Santo Domingo on the 10th September 1877, a coffin was discovered bearing an inscription that clearly referred to Christopher Columbus. In 1898 the remains of Columbus were placed with a marble and bronze mausoleum in the Basilica Menor, and since 6th October 1992 people can feel close to the Great Admiral in the Faro a Colon in Santo Domingo.
