In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Centuries later, the entire contents of his personal chapel, which was once part of his castle in Spain, are inherited by a woman in Central Pennsylvania.
You can't make this stuff up.
In 1908, Dona Victoria Columbus, bequeathed the chapel and all of its contents, as well as items from the Columbus Castle in Asturias, Spain, to her niece, Mathilde de Lagarde Boal. Mathilde had married Theodore Davis Boal, and they resided in what is now Boalsburg Pa. Theodore had the entire contents of the chapel shipped to their home, where he built a small stone building to house all of the contents - including the original door of the chapel.
And that is how we have priceless art and artifacts in a little stone building in central Pa. Two slivers of wood from the true cross of Jesus are included in a metal cross on display, along with artwork and vestments perfectly preserved from the 1500s.
No matter how you feel about Columbus, this is an incredible piece of history, and it's sitting in a wooden area just a short drive away from State College.
"Among the contents of the chapel are European oil paintings and statues from the 14th through 17th centuries and two pieces of the True Cross of Jesus, which were given to the Columbus family in 1817 by the Bishop of Leon in Spain. " - Take A Virtual Tour Here - http://www.myecarousel.com/pl/myecarousel/1411/columbus-chapel/
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We visited this as part of our Memorial Day Trip To Boalsburg - and unfortunately, the Boal Mansion tours had sold out early on.. we will go back to tour the Boal Mansion some day soon - The family had connections to Napoleon, The Declaration of Independence, and Apollo 13 - so there are many amazing things to see here!
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Very interesting. I live maybe an hour away and never knew this! Thank you for passing this along!
ReplyDeleteCost to see it? When is it open?
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