PAMPLONA, A FORTIFIED CITY: Ramparts, gardens and the Palace of the Kings of Navarre
The walled enclosure of Pamplona already existed in the Middle Ages. In addition to these ramparts, the city’s defence was completed by the castle erected by King Luis el Hutín in 1308 on the eastern side of the present-day Plaza del Castillo (Castle Square) and by the various towers along the ramparts and the various church – fortresses such as San Saturnino, San Nicolás and San Lorenzo.
However, when in 1512 the kingdom of Navarre was annexed by Fernando the Catholic to that of Castile, his military engineers advised him to renew the city’s entire defensive system. The important of Pamplona as a fortified city was self-evident, given the proximity of France, a country that was in continuous conflict with the Castilian monarchy. Moreover, at this time, the legitimate monarchs of Navarre had taken refuge in this neighbouring country and still held hopes of recovering their kingdom. For all these reasons, it became urgent to provide this frontier city with a modern defence system. The first step was to construct a new castle, which was sited where the present day provincial council building- the Palacio de la Diputación – now stands.
Once the New Castle had been constructed, Carlos I then dedicated his efforts to modernising the ramparts encircling the city. During his reign, “controversial areas” were created where building was prohibited. These areas primarily affected the belt just outside the city walls, where the enemy could become established during a siege of the city. The great defensive construction of Pamplona took place in the reign of Felipe II, in the form of the modern citadel or Ciudadela. Once this had been completed, the antiquated castle of Fernando the Catholic disappeared. Throughout Modern Times, monarchs have shown a great interest in renovating and maintaining the city’s defences in good condition until, finally, the new military advances rendered the old rampart system useless. As a result, at the end of the 19th century the Fort of Alfonso XII was constructed on the nearby hill of San Cristobal. Shortly afterwards, in 1888, authorisation was given to demolish part of the ramparts and two bastions of the citadel in order to start work on the first suburban extension of Pamplona, which started to develop outside the walled area.
A walk along the walls is very pleasant experience indeed, providing you with some wonderful views of the city’s green belt. It is also possible to walk round the bottom of some areas of the walls, enabling you to appreciate the actual strength and defensive nature of the ramparts.
Next to the Bastion of San Bartolomé (1), the former site of the 18th century fort of the same name, is the Media Luna (Half moon) park (2), designed by the architect Víctor Eusa in 1935. Decorated with romantic pergolas, ponds and parterres, it offers some excellent views of the Arga river and the cathedral. The monument to Pablo Sarasate, the violinist, is to be found here.
If you follow the walls, you will come to the Bastion of Labrit (3). This area contained the former Jewish quarters of Pamplona, with its own cemetery on the other side of the ramparts. The kingdom of Navarre was the last kingdom in the peninsular to expel the Jews, in 1498. The eastern part of the ramparts, from the bastion of Labrit to the bastion of Redín (4) is known as the Ronda Barbazana, since it passes behind the cathedral chapel of this same name and it is one that was remodelled in the reign of Carlos I. If you look down from the Redín bastion, you will be able to see the start of the low bastion of Guadalupe (5) and the Magdalena bridge (6), one of the many Medieval bridges that cross the river Arga. It was named after the former hospital that was located on the other side of the river and it is a crossing point to Pamplona for pilgrims on their way to Santiago. Continuing with the walk, you will come to one of the fortified gateways providing access to the walled enclosure, the Portal de Francia (7), this gateway is also known as the “portal de Zumalacárregui”, since, as the story goes, it was the city gateway used by General Zumalacárregui when he set off to mobilise his troops in the first Carlist war. The gateway dates back to 1553, and it is the oldest remaining one still to be conserved. The low bastion of Pilar is located beneath the gateway (8) and the ravelin of the Reyes (9), and, to the left, you can observe the bastion of Abrevador (10).
If you continue along the route, you will pass through the palace of the Kings of Navarre or Palacio de los Reyes de Navarra (11), over the half-bastion of Parma (12). This palace, which has now been converted into the Archive of Navarre, after the restoration carried out by the architect Rafael Moneo, was the motive for disputes between the monarch and the bishop practically throughout the entire Middle Ages. The palace was constructed in the reign of Sancho VI the Wise (1150 – 1194) and the semi-basement in the north wing corresponds to this same period. The patio gallery was erected at a later date during the 15th century and was then reformed in the 16th century to introduce the typical Castilian footing. The portal pertains to the period of Charles I of Spain and was reworked in 1598, on the occasion of a visit by Felipe II. Behind the palace were the vegetable plots and gardens dropping down towards the park of Santo Domingo.
If you continue with the walk along the wall, passing behind the Museum of Navarre, after crossing the steep street of Santo Domingo, to the area which is known as the Paseo de Ronda (13). Below you will see the Rochapea bridge (14), where another of the former rampart gateways was located. This was taken down in 1914 and now only the coat of arms remains, this was mounted on the new gateway or Portal Nueva (15), opened in the ramparts in 1950 in order to facilitate access to the city from the North. Through this gateway, you will reach the park of the Taconera, where parts of the walls are still to be found and the bastions of Gonzaga, the half moon of San Roque and the bastion of the Taconera, all constructed at the end of the 17th century or beginning of the 18th century. This park is the oldest park in Pamplona and, in addition to the monument to Julian Gayarre, the ancient Mariblanca fountain and two cafeterias, the park also has a curious type of zoo with deer, wild boar, peacocks and other species roaming in the actual moats of the former ramparts. In the street named Calle del Bosquecillo, which borders these gardens, you can contemplate the gateway of San Nicolás (16), which gave access to the borough of the same name and which was constructed in 1666 together with the Taconera gateway. Both gateways were taken down, however the gateway of San NIcolás was re-installed at the entrance to the gardens whereas the Taconera gateway was not so lucky and now only the inscriptions remain. A reproduction of the gateway has been placed opposite the Antoniutti park. (17).
THE CIUDADELA OR CITADEL OF PAMPLONA (18). This is the most important part of the Pamplona fortifications still to be conserved. Construction commenced in 1571 during the reign of Felipe II based on the drawings of the military engineer Giacomo Palearo, known as Fratín, who had also been involved in the reform of the castle of Santa Bárbara in Valencia and the castle of Santa Cruz in La Coruña. The new citadel was designed to provide protection against the new long-range canons, this latest advance in war techniques had made the former castle of Fernando the Catholic redundant.
In this way, Palearo, aided by the viceroy of Navarre, Vespasiano Gonzaga, the Marques of Sabioneda and the Duke of Trayetto, designed a defensive building similar to the modern citadel of Antwerp, designed by the engineer Francisco Pacciotoo, a uniform pentagon with a bastion at each of its five points. The bastions were named San Felipe el Real, Santa María, Santiago, San Antón and the Victoria. These latter two bastions were demolished in 1888 to construct the city’s first suburban extension, although some of the remains of the San Antón bastion can be observed in the auditorium of Pamplona, which is named “El Baluarte” or the bastion.
Under the viceroyalty of the Count of Oropesa, half moons were added, known as Santa Teresa, Santa Ana, Santa Isabel, Santa Clara and Santa Lucía. Construction of the citadel was concluded in 1646, and the fortress was visited that same year by Felipe IV. To commemorate the conclusion of the works and the royal visit, the king’s coat of arms were placed on the main gateway opening out onto the avenue named the Avenida del Ejército, in addition to the coats of arms of the Count of Oropesa, Luis Guzmán and Ponce de León, promoters of this latest work. Under the coats of arms you can read the inscription referring to the construction of the fortress in the period of Felipe II.
However, new work still continued to be carried out within the fortress to provide it with other services, such as the powder magazine, designed in 1694 by the engineer Hercules Torelli, the Arms Room, the former artillery arsenal, designed in 1725 by the engineer Jorge Prospero Verboom, who designed the citadel of Barcelona, the Oven and the former food store and wine cellar, today known as the Pabellón de Mixtos, constructed at the end of the 17th Century and remodelled in 1720 by Ignacio de Sala. This same engineer, who had already worked on the construction of the Royal Tobacco Factory at Sevilla, was also responsible for the bombproof vaults protecting the entrances to the citadel.
The modern construction demonstrated its effectiveness, since it was never taken by force. It was only conquered once, and that was due to the astuteness of the attackers who used some inoffensive snowballs as their only weapon. It happened during the winter of 1808, when due to the treaty of Fontainebleau, the French troops made their camp on the outside of the city due to the fact that the prudent viceroy, the Marques of Vallesantoro refused to house them inside the military fortress. However, every morning, the French troops came to the citadel to collect the necessary provisions. On the 16th February, after a copious snowfall, the French started to throw snowballs at the Navarre soldiers guarding the citadel who, enjoying the game, forgot all about their duties and suddenly found themselves surrounded and disarmed by the foreign troops. Shortly afterwards the war of Independence broke out in Spain.
In 1966 the military authorities handed the citadel over to the Pamplona city council and today its facilities are used for exhibitions. In its gardens and in the park of the Vuelta del Castillo surrounding the citadel there are a series of sculptures that have transformed this area into a pleasant open-air museum.