Citadel of Barcelona

The Citadel of Barcelona (in Spanish, Ciudadela de Barcelona; in Catalan, Fortalesa de la Ciutadella) was a bastion fort citadel built in Barcelona. The works commenced in 1714 and, at the time of its construction, it was the largest fortress in Europe, capable of housing 8,000 troops.

It was designed by the military engineer Marquis of Verboom, who would also, in 1718, be appointed the Citadel's first governor.

Although its fortifications were dismantled in the mid-19th century, some of its original buildings still remain, including its arsenal, today the Palau del Parlament de Catalunya, the seat of the Catalan Parliament. The rest of the site was converted into the city's main central park, the Parc de la Ciutadella, by the architect Josep Fontserè in 1872.

Text adapted from “Citadel of Barcelona” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Citadel of Barcelona ranks #191 of 6,412 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #51 of the 433 mapped in Spain. Founded 1716, it is older than 23% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 375 atlas entries founded in the 18th century. See how Spain compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗