La Puerta del Mar
La Puerta del Mar (or Gateway to the Sea) was built in 1946 in imitation of the city gate that stood on the same site. The original was built in 1801 and demolished in 1867, along with a large part of the original Christian city wall. The gate replaced a medieval one which was actually situated nearer to the river. Both were inspired in the triumphal arches of the Romans.
The area has seen centuries of conflict. The first Bourbon king, Felipe V ordered a citadel to be built here in 1707 with the cannons pointing towards the city as a reminder to Valencians that they had backed the wrong side in the Spanish war of Succession.
Demolition of the citadel began when Napoleon’s troops abandoned the city and was finally completed as late as 1960.
The citadel was the scene of a massacre of French citizens in 1808 after the rebellion which broke out all over Spain against the occupying army of Napoleon. On the 2nd of May in Madrid, French troops started executing those Spaniards who protested against their presence, as depicted in Goya’s famous painting of firing squads, the ‘Dos de Mayo’.
On June 5th that same year, an angry mob led by a priest called Baltasar Calvo stormed the citadel and killed two hundred of the French people who were being held there for their own protection. Another 140 were killed in other parts of the city.
Calvo and three hundred of his followers were arrested and executed the following month.La Puerta del Mar (or Gateway to the Sea) was built in 1946 in imitation of the city gate that stood on the same site. The original was built in 1801 and demolished in 1867, along with a large part of the original Christian city wall. The gate replaced a medieval one which was actually situated nearer to the river. Both were inspired in the triumphal arches of the Romans.
The area has seen centuries of conflict. The first Bourbon king, Felipe V ordered a citadel to be built here in 1707 with the cannons pointing towards the city as a reminder to Valencians that they had backed the wrong side in the Spanish war of Succession.
Demolition of the citadel began when Napoleon’s troops abandoned the city and was finally completed as late as 1960.
The citadel was the scene of a massacre of French citizens in 1808 after the rebellion which broke out all over Spain against the occupying army of Napoleon. On the 2nd of May in Madrid, French troops started executing those Spaniards who protested against their presence, as depicted in Goya’s famous painting of firing squads, the ‘Dos de Mayo’.
On June 5th that same year, an angry mob led by a priest called Baltasar Calvo stormed the citadel and killed two hundred of the French people who were being held there for their own protection. Another 140 were killed in other parts of the city.
Calvo and three hundred of his followers were arrested and executed the following month.
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