Montjuïc Castle (, ) is an old military fortress, with roots dating back from 1640, built on top of
Montjuïc
Montjuïc () is a hill in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Montjuïc or Montjuich, meaning "Jewish Mountain" in medieval Latin and Catalan, is a broad, shallow hill in Barcelona with a rich history. It was the birthplace of the city, and its st ...
hill in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
,
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. It currently serves as a Barcelona municipal facility.
History
The foundation stone for the basic fortification was laid out in 1640. A year later, in January 1641, the fort saw its first battle, during the
Catalan Revolt when the
Principality of Catalonia
The Principality of Catalonia (; ; ; ) was a Middle Ages, medieval and early modern state (polity), state in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. During most of its history it was in dynastic union with the Kingdom of Aragon, constituting together ...
challenged Spain's authority. On orders from the King of Spain,
Pedro Fajardo
Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter.
The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meanin ...
, heading an army of 26,000 men, proceeded to crush the revolt. The Spanish recaptured several cities, but they were defeated at the
Battle of Montjuïc by Catalan, led by
Francesc de Tamarit. At that battle, Colonel
Shane O'Neill or known in Spain as Prince Juan O'Neill, died leading his regiment during the
Battle of Montjuic near Barcelona, dying from a musket-ball wound to his chest near the town of
Castelldefels
Castelldefels () is a municipality in the Baix Llobregat comarca, in the province of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain, and a suburban town of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. Its population is 65,954 ( IDESCAT, 2017).
Geography and location
...
. In his honor, the King of Spain granted the Colonel the death title of Viscount Montjuïc.
Fifty years later, in 1694, new bastions and battlements were erected and the fortress became a castle. In the
Siege of Barcelona (1705) the fortress was captured by the British
6th Regiment of Foot led by Lt.-Col
William Southwell, paving the way for the siege of Barcelona itself. Southwell was afterwards made Governor of the castle.
As an extraordinary engineer and with the rank of second lieutenant,
Giovanni Antonio Medrano was assigned to the garrisons of Catalonia, Valencia and Murcia, specializing in the design of large territorial infrastructures and plants for the military defence, such as Montjuïc Castle in Barcelona which he drew up in 1730.
With these new designs, the old fort was demolished in 1751 by the Spanish engineer and architect
Juan Martin Cermeño, creating the current structure, still standing. The final shape of the castle took form during 1779 and 1799, when major construction works took place in order to improve the castle and accommodate the needs. It was also during this time that the castle was equipped with 120 cannons.
During the
Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
, the French Army entered Barcelona, and, on orders from
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
, they also captured the castle without firing a shot as the troops guarding the castle were ordered not to fight the French.
In the last 350 years Montjuïc Castle has played a decisive role in the history of Barcelona, becoming a symbol after the Catalan defeat to Spain in 1714. Since then the Montjuïc cannons have bombarded the city and its citizens on various occasions, and Montjuïc has been used as a prison and torture centre repeatedly for three centuries. In the late 19th century, Montjuïc was synonymous with barbarism based on the torture of anarchists and others imprisoned there.
The castle is infamous in Catalan history books because of its role in the civil war from 1936 to 1939, when both sides of the conflict imprisoned, tortured and shot political prisoners at Montjuïc, among them
Lluís Companys, who was the president of the
Generalitat of Catalonia
The Generalitat de Catalunya (; ; ), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia is Self-governance, self-governed as an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is made up of the Parli ...
during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
. Companys was executed upon orders from the
Spanish State
Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...
at Montjuïc Castle in 1940.
Later in the 20th century, the castle became a military museum. In June 1963,
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...
inaugurated the Military Armor Museum, the official name given to the institution.
Current status
In April 2007, the government transferred the castle to Barcelona City Council. Following discussions over the next months, the castle became a municipal facility. Subsequently, in 2010 the museum was closed and the City Council started a project of restoration and waterproofing of the roof and a watchtower.
The current plans for the castle include L’Espai de la Memòria, El Centre d’Interpretació de la Muntanya de Montjuïc, and cultural activities.
The castle can be accessed by the
Montjuïc cable car, a
gondola lift
A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate suppo ...
that has its upper station near the castle entrance. The
Montjuïc funicular ascends Montjuïc from the
Paral·lel station
Paral·lel is a Barcelona Metro
The Barcelona Metro (Catalan language, Catalan and Spanish language, Spanish: ) is a rapid transit network that runs mostly underground in central Barcelona and into the city's suburbs. It is part of ...
of the
Barcelona Metro
The Barcelona Metro (Catalan language, Catalan and Spanish language, Spanish: ) is a rapid transit network that runs mostly underground in central Barcelona and into the city's suburbs. It is part of the larger public transport system ...
and connects to the lower station of the cable car. The castle can also be reached by the
Port Vell Aerial Tramway from
Port Vell, Barcelona's old harbour.
See also
*
Prototype metre
During the French Revolution, the traditional units of measure were to be replaced by consistent measures based on natural phenomena. As a base unit of length, scientists had favoured the seconds pendulum (a pendulum with a half-period of o ...
*
Meridional definition
References
Castell de Montjuïc tourist informationCastell de Montjuïc information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montjuic Castle
Buildings and structures completed in 1694
Military installations established in 1799
Castles in Catalonia
Museums in Barcelona
Buildings and structures in Barcelona
Tourist attractions in Barcelona
1694 establishments in Spain
Montjuïc
Military history of Barcelona
Execution sites in Spain