Castle of San Antón (La Coruña)

The castle of San Antón is a castle from the XVI century that was part, together with the Castle of Santa Cruz and the Castle of San Diego, of a strategic network of castles and batteries to defend the city of La Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1949 and since 1994 it has come to be considered an Asset of Cultural Interest with the category of Monument. Since its inauguration in 1968, it has housed the Archaeological and Historical Museum of La Coruña.

History

Entrance to the castle.

This old fortress was built on what was then a small islet in the middle of the Bay of A Coruña, where there was a small hermitage dedicated to San Antón. Its purpose was to defend the city from attacks from the sea. Its construction began in 1587, according to an inscription on the cover of the fortress.

During the English attack of 1589 by the English Armada, the castle contributed effectively to the defense of the city, despite being unfinished. After the attack, its construction continued until the completion of the works in 1590.

From the 18th century the fortress became a prison, a function that it would maintain until it was transferred to the City Council of La Coruña In 1960.

The new military architecture

Shield on the main entrance.

The three successive invasions of Italy by French armies at the beginning of the Renaissance forced Italian cities to build walls adapted to the advances of the powerful Gallic artillery. These fortifying experiences gave rise to modern bastioned military architecture. Many of the first engineers who later served in the armies of Charles V were trained in those works, such as Juan Bautista Calvi, Ferramolino or Escrivá, authors of the new Spanish bastions at the beginning of the century XVI, either in the Iberian Peninsula, in the European possessions or later in America.

General view from the back of the castle.

One of the models of a modern fortress, the result of the experimentalism of the early years, was the castle of San Telmo in Naples, built in 1537 by the architect Pedro Luis Escrivá for the Spanish viceroy Don Pedro de Toledo, in which The complex bastioned traces are replaced by a simple irregular star shape, covering the entire enclosure, militarily self-sufficient and geometrically impregnable. We will find a similar solution in Galicia years later, when the engineer Pedro Rodríguez Muñiz built a Renaissance fort of San Antón in the bay of La Coruña, an Italian model adapted to an island. Its elongated structure responds to the shape of the promontory, with a front facing the port, formed by two semi-bastions flanking the entrance. Inside there is a parade ground protected by vaulted side curtains and, at the other end, facing the estuary, a star-shaped platform for artillery. The set acquired a singular form of boat, fish and castle.

Interior patio.

The rulers of La Coruña set their sights on the rock of the San Antón lazaretto in 1528, a small island in the bay, as the ideal place to build a castle to protect the port, a prerequisite for obtaining a House of Contracting, as as required of the Court. The idea of locating the fort was endorsed by the engineer Fratín, Felipe II's inspector of fortifications, who authorized the construction of which Rodríguez Muñíz, a professor at the Royal Academy of Mathematics, who was in Galicia at the service of the captain general, was in charge of. Marquis of Cerralbo.

Some documents refer to the use in its construction of steps from the external staircase of the ruined Tower of Hercules. With the works started, the castle witnessed the departure of the Invincible and the replica expedition undertaken by Francis Drake in May 1589. From its incomplete walls, two companies of soldiers and several cannons effectively protected the southern flank of the City Old. But its design, adapted to the artillery of the XVI century and the size of the galleons of the time, soon made its effectiveness obsolete. military. The ships of the 18th century century were much higher than the castle, leaving their platforms unprotected. The reform projects would take time to wait, undertaking only the reconstruction of the interior ships.

The castle barracks until 1777 consisted of a modest two-story building behind which a large vaulted cistern was built. A first project by the military engineer Baltasar Ricaud proposed expanding these dependencies, but it will be carried out by his successor, the engineer López Sopeña, author of the current Casa del Gobernador, an interesting neoclassical mansion with two floors, the lower one used as a barracks, and the upper one distributed between two houses and the chapel. The military engineer Eustaquio Giannini built the communication platform for the castle of San Antón and the restoration of the neighboring Tower of Hercules at the end of the XVIIIth century< /span>. The strategic group for the defense of Coruña will be formed, together with San Antón, the castles of San Diego and Santa Cruz, thus fortifying the estuary from the 16th century XVIII.

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  Castle of San Antón 1736?

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  Castelo de San Anton 1736?

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  Plan, Elevazion and Profiles of the Castle of S. Antonio / dn. Franco. Montaigú 1726?

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  Plan, Elevazion and Profiles of the Castle of S. Antonio / dn. Franco. Montaigú 1736?

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  Plan, Elevazion and Profiles of the Castle of S. Antonio / dn. Franco. Montaigú 1736?

Description

Defensive post.

On the ground floor, former quarters of the castle garrison, exhibits pieces from the various periods of Galician Prehistory and Ancient History, mostly from archaeological excavations at sites in the province. The pre and protohistoric gold and silverware collection deserves a special mention, with notable pieces such as the Bronze Age helmet from Leiro, the torques from the castro of San Lorenzo de Pastor, O Pino, or the set of Chalcolithic silverware from Cícere (choker of strips, headbands and other pieces).

On the upper floor, which occupies the so-called Governor's House, where not only illustrious Galicians lived, such as Juana de Vega and her husband General Mina, but also predecessors of others such as Francisco Vázquez who would become mayor of In the city, some milestones in the city's history are remembered: the expedition of the Invincible Armada and the subsequent attack by Drake in 1589, with the heroic intervention of María Pita, Captain Juan Varela, Captain Troncoso and many other people from A Coruña and residents of the next places; In it, illustrious prisoners suffered imprisonment, such as Malaspina, Macanaz or Porlier. In La Coruña, the battle of Elviña took place on January 16, 1809, in which two generals died. On the British side, Lieutenant General Chief of that Army, Sir John Moore, and on the French side, Brigadier General Yves Manigaul-Gaulois. The chapel of the Virgen del Rosario and its attached sacristy are also preserved.

Lighthouse inside the castle.

On May 30, 2009, in a TVG Europa documentary, there was talk of the possibility that Manuel Blanco Romasanta had died in this castle.

Governors