Cruz de la Parra

La Cruz de la Parra, or The Sacred Cross of Parra, as it's miles cited in English, is a wooden cross which was erected by Christopher Columbus in Cuba after he had landed there throughout his First Voyage in 1492. It is taken into consideration the oldest artifact linked with Columbus to be found inside the Americas. Referring to Columbus, Friar Bartolome de las Casas, O.P., who later chronicled the conquest of the Americas, wrote that, on 1 December 1492, "he located a huge go at the entrance of that port, which I agree with he named Porto Santo".

Of the 29 crosses planted by Christopher Columbus in the New World, this is believed to be the most effective one to have survived. It became provided as a present to Pope John Paul II via the people of Cuba on the occasion of his visit in 1998, the first ever by way of a pope, however he declined to dispose of it from the island. The relic stays in Baracoa, Cuba.