The Cárcel Real (Spanish: Royal Prison) is a historical building in

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

, southern

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 ...

, an example of

Neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

History

In 1792, the city of Cádiz decided to replace its inadequate, poorly situated, and poorly constructed prison. The new, larger prison would be in a place with better air.

Torcuato Benjumeda Torcuato José Benjumeda y Laguada (1757, El Puerto de Santa María – 1836, Cádiz) was a Spanish architect. A disciple of Torcuato Cayón, he was one of the most important Neoclassical architects in Andalusia, designing several of the most pr ...

, the most representative architect of Cádiz at that time, designed the building. This was at the time neoclassicism was beginning to eclipse

Baroque architecture Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the early 17th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means t ...

in Spain. As Spain entered its long economic decline, the more elaborate Baroque was seen as decadent and in poor taste. The cost of construction was 3.5 million Spanish reales. Although Benjumeda's plans are dated 1794, they almost certainly were backdated, because he signed with the title ''"Académico de mérito"'', which he was not granted until 1807. The city of Cádiz itself is referred to as ''"Muy Heroica"'', a title it was conceded in 1816 as a result of the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

(Spanish War of Independence). The building opened for use in 1836, at which time a large portion of it had been completed under the leadership of architect Juan Daura. At that time the last portion, closest to the sea was incomplete; indeed it would not be completed until a rehabilitation in 1990. That last project was directed for the Ministry of Justice by J. Montes Deza, adapting the building for use as a courthouse, and saving it from a state of near-ruin. Following the original plans, he completed the final portion of the building and installed a rectangular attic at the top of the projecting principal façade, with a large shield and two pinnacles on the sides.

Description

The building is rectangular, by in size, and perfectly symmetrical in the Neoclassical style. It is organized around a square central courtyard and two smaller rectangular courtyards, which are located to the sides. The cells and other facilities are distributed around these. The building is two stories high, with a projecting mass at the center of the principal façade. Tuscan

pilasters In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...

, of the giant order (banked on a base), frame the openings. The wide windows of the lower floor have a simple horizontal dustguard, which becomes concave at its lower ends. Over the pilasters is an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

, with a frieze of

triglyph Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them. The rectangular recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric frieze are ...

s and, below them, three guttae. The projecting mass at the center of the principal façade has four terraced Tuscan columns, as well as twinned Tuscan pillars at the ends. On the two shorter sides of the projecting mass, over the bays of the lower floor (and delineated by pilasters), are several blind semicircles, over which an

oculus Oculus (a term from Latin ''oculus'', meaning 'eye'), may refer to the following Architecture * Oculus (architecture), a circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Oculus'' (film), a 2013 American ...

is inscribed. An inscription near the mean entrance reads ''"odia el delito, compadece al delincuente"'' ("hate the crime, pity the criminal"), a quotation from

Concepción Arenal Concepción Arenal Ponte ( Ferrol, 31 January 1820 – Vigo, 4 February 1893) was a graduate in law, thinker, journalist, poet and Galician dramatic author within the literary Realism and pioneer in Spanish feminism. Born in Ferrol, Galicia, sh ...

. Enrique Romero de Torres in his ''Catálogo Monumental de España - Provincia de Cádiz'', considered the building to be "the most architecturally tasteful civil building in Cádiz" and added, "if it were not for the legend already cited Hate the crime, pity the criminal' one could think to have been constructed for a museum or a literary center".''"si no fuera por la leyenda antes citada ''odia el delito, compadece al delincuente'''se podría pensar que habría sido construido para un museo o centro literario."''

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carcel Real Buildings and structures in Cádiz Prisons in Spain Neoclassical architecture in Andalusia