Statue of Christopher Columbus, Bronze statue in Byrd Park, Richmond, US
The Statue of Christopher Columbus was a bronze figure on a granite base showing the explorer dressed in Renaissance clothing and holding navigation instruments. It stood in Byrd Park in Richmond, Virginia, near the intersection of Columbus Boulevard and Confederate Avenue.
The monument was commissioned by Richmond's Italian-American community and made by sculptor Ferruccio Legnaioli in 1927. It stood for nearly a century before being removed in 2020 during a wave of social protests across the country.
The statue was a gathering point for Italian-American residents who held celebrations and commemorations around it for decades. Today the base stands empty, but the spot remains a visible sign of how public memory shifts over time.
The spot where the statue once stood is easy to reach on foot through the paths of Byrd Park. Walking through the park gives a good sense of how the grounds are laid out and where the monument used to be.
When the statue was taken down in 2020, local residents threw it into Fountain Lake inside Byrd Park, where authorities later recovered it. The figure has since been held in city storage, and its final destination has not yet been decided.
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