Castell de la Trinitat is located on the

Gulf of Roses The Gulf of Roses ( ca, Golf de Roses ) is the most northeastern bay on the Catalonia, Catalan coast of Spain. The bay is wide and is formed by the valley of the Fluvià river but also contains the estuaries of the Manol and the Muga River, Muga ...

Alt Empordà Alt Empordà (, "Upper Empordà") is a comarca (county) in Girona, Catalonia, Spain, one of two into which Empordà Emporda (from the official name in ca, Empordà, , name in es, Ampurdán, ) is a natural and historical region of Catalonia ...

comarca,

Province of Girona Girona (; es, Gerona ; french: Gérone) is a province of Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered on the northwest by the province of Lleida, on the southwest by the province of Barcelona, on the ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Along with the Ciutadella de Roses, it provided defenses for the town of

Roses A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be e ...

. The name comes from a chapel built in 1508, which was destroyed, along with a defense tower that stood in the area, when the castle was built, ordered by Emperor Charles V (Carlos I) in 1543. Work began on January 2, 1544 and the castle was completed in mid 1551 under the Spanish engineer Luis Pizano. In 1808, it was defended for twelve days by

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

sailors and

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

under the command of Captain Thomas, Lord Cochrane, supported by Catalan militia and regulars, and the damage inflicted by the besieging French and Italian artillery was compounded by an immense explosion of gunpowder barrels from Cochrane's frigate , laid by him to deny the investing French control of the sea approaches to the Bay of Rosas. It was built in the shape of a five-pointed star for defence purposes. The construction is about 18–20 metres high, with thick walls, and designed to house a garrison of about 350 men. The Castell de la Trinitat was declared a

Bien de Interés Cultural A Bien de Interés Cultural is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Venezuela and other Spanish-speaking countries. The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" ("goods" in the economic sense) and inclu ...

landmark in 1988. Derelict for nearly 200 years, it underwent restoration amounting to about 2 million euros between 2002 and 2010, and a museum was established at the site. It reopened to the public on 26 September 2010.

Gallery

File:Castell de la Trinitat, entrada cos de guàrdia.jpg File:Castell Trinitat Innenaufnahme 3.JPG File:Castell de la Trinitat, antic forn.jpg

References

;Bibliography *C. Díaz, H. Palou i A. M. Puig, ''La Ciutadella de Roses'', Quaderns de la revista de Girona, 2004. *Reay, Justin, "The Royal Navy in the Bay of Rosas, 1808-09", in C. Diaz, R. Pedler and J. Reay, El Setge de Roses de 1808, Ajuntament de Roses 2008, pp88–133 and 240-284. *Reay, Justin, "A Place of Considerable Importance: Lord Cochrane at the Siege of Rosas 1808", The Mariner's Mirror November 2009, available at Oxford University Research Archive at http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:2bc4c3b7-fb89-452c-a0a2-51dd6e95de30. *Pujol i Hamelink, Marcel, ''La vila de Roses (segles XIV i XVI)'', Roses: Ajuntament de Roses, 1997. *De la Fuente, Pablo, ''Les fortificacions reials del golf de Roses a l'època moderna'', Roses: Ajuntament de Roses, 1998.

External links

{{Authority control Infrastructure completed in 1551 Castles in Catalonia Alt Empordà Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Girona 1551 establishments in Spain