Atlas Obscura - Latest • Jan. 18, 2026, 1:36 p.m.
The Monastery of Santa María de las Cuevas, known as La Cartuja, is linked to Cristopher Columbus. In fact, in 1509 he was buried there, alongside his son Diego, until 1536, when his remains were transferred to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
Yet something of his voyages to America still endures here. Another son, Hernando Colón, brought ombú seeds from the American continent on one of his father's voyages, which he accompanied.
He planted them later in the Monastery's gardens, so the ombú tree of La Cartuja became the first European specimen of this species. The ombú (Phytolacca dioica) is a herbaceous tree native of the Argentine pampas and bordering areas of Uruguay, southern Brazil, and Paraguay.