Santa Bàrbara Castle (, ) is a fortification in the center of

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

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 stands on Mount Benacantil (166 m) bordering the sea, which gave it enormous strategic value since from it you can see the entire bay of Alicante and its land surroundings. The image of the mountain from the beach resembles a face, which is why it is called "the face of the Moor" and is an icon of the city of Alicante. There are historians who date the origin of the place name to the words bena, an Arabic transcription of pinna, 'peña' in Latin, and laqanti, an adjective that comes from Laqant, Alicante for the Arabs.

History

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

Iberian Iberian refers to Iberia. Most commonly Iberian refers to: *Someone or something originating in the Iberian Peninsula, namely from Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra. The term ''Iberian'' is also used to refer to anything pertaining to the fo ...

, and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

artifacts have been found on the slopes of the mountain, but the origins of the castle date to the 9th century at the time of Muslim control of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

, from 711 till 1296. The Arab medieval geographer

Al-Idrisi Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani as-Sabti, or simply al-Idrisi (; ; 1100–1165), was an Arab Muslim geographer and cartographer who served in the court of King Roger II at Palermo, Sicily. Muhammad al-Idrisi was born in C ...

calls this mountain ''Banu-lQatil'', and the

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

may derive from the words ''pinna'' (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

for "peak") and ''laqanti'', adjectival form of ''Laqant'', the Arabic name for Alicante. On 4 December 1248, the castle was captured by Castilian forces led by Alfonso of Castile. It was named after

Saint Barbara Saint Barbara (; ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an Early Christianity, early Christian Greek saint and martyr. There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings nor in the origin ...

, on whose feast day the castle was recaptured from the Arabs. It was conquered by the Aragonese in 1296 during the reign of

James II of Aragon James II (Catalan: ''Jaume II''; Aragonese: ''Chaime II;'' 10 April 1267 – 2 or 5 November 1327), called the Just, was the King of Aragon and Valencia and Count of Barcelona from 1291 to 1327. He was also the King of Sicily (as James I) f ...

, who ordered its reconstruction.

Peter IV of Aragon Peter IV (Catalan: ''Pere IV d'Aragó;'' Aragonese; ''Pero IV d'Aragón;'' 5 September 1319 – 6 January 1387), called the Ceremonious (Catalan: ''El Cerimoniós''; Aragonese: ''el Ceremonioso''), was from 1336 until his death the king of ...

Charles I of Spain Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) fr ...

and

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

would oversee further reconstructions. The castle was bombarded in 1691 by a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

squadron. During the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

, it was held by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

for three years. In 1873, it was bombarded, along with the city, by the '' cantonalistas'' from the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

''Numancia''.History of the Castle
Alicante Town Hall From the 18th century the military role of the castle has declined and it was used sometimes as a prison. From April 1939, with the end of 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 ...

, it was used as a Francoist concentration camp for Republican prisoners until the end of that year. The castle remained abandoned until 1963, when it was opened to the public. Lifts have been installed inside the mountain (€2.70 charge in December 2023 but free for adults aged 65 on production of ID). There are some guided tours at €3 per person and there are refreshments and other amenities at and near the summit.

Castle grounds

The castle is divided into three distinct areas: The first of them is the tallest, and is known as "La Torreta" as the old Torre del Homenatge is located there. It has the oldest vestiges of the entire fortress, foundations from the 11th to the 13th centuries. In this enclosure we see, among others, the so-called Bastion of the English, as well as other facilities: Engineers Park, Noble Room, which was a hospital, Governor's House, etc. The highest esplanade is known as “Macho del Castillo”; The old citadel was there. The intermediate enclosure corresponds to the most important rooms completed in 1580: Felipe II Hall, former Corps of the Troop in front of the large Patio de Armas behind whose back are the ruins of the hermitage of Santa Bàrbara, Guard Corps, Baluarte de la Reina, etc. The lower area where we find the Ravellí del Bon Repós dates back to the 18th century, which currently serves as a parking lot and where the monument to the illustrious Alicante soldier Félix Berenguer de Marquina is located, who was captain general of the Philippines and viceroy of the New Spain. The large white marble shield (18th century) above the access door to the second enclosure was in the Royal Consulate of the Sea, a building destroyed by an explosion. Inside is the Museum of the City of Alicante (MUSA), made up of five rooms that are complemented by the Renaissance Cistern. Currently, some areas of the castle are being restored.

Gallery

File:Castillo de Santa Bárbara, Alicante, España, 2014-07-04, DD 54.JPG, Remains of the church File:Castillo de Santa Bárbara, Alicante, España, 2014-07-04, DD 60.JPG, Castle wall gate File:Castillo de Santa Bárbara, Alicante, España, 2014-07-04, DD 61.JPG, Sculpture of an archer File:Castillo de Santa Bárbara, Alicante, España, 2014-07-04, DD 64.JPG, View from the top floor File:Castillo de Santa Bárbara, Alicante, España, 2014-07-04, DD 78.JPG, View of the inside of the castle File:Castillo de Santa Bárbara, Alicante, España, 2014-07-04, DD 79.JPG, Well File:Santa Barbara Castle.jpg, View of the Castle from the Santa Cruz neighborhood where you can see the "face of the Moro" File:Castillo de Santa Bárbara, Alicante, España, 2014-07-04, DD 62.JPG, View of the inside. Alicante Banner 2

References

External links

* Santa Barbara Castle at Alicante City Hall
brief history
* Evolution of fortifications of Santa Barbara Castle, Alicant

Catálogo del Patrimonio Cultural Valenciano

Reportaje Documental sobre el Castillo de Santa Barbara
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Barbara Castle Castles in the Valencian Community Buildings and structures in Alicante Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Alicante Francoist concentration camps