It is curious that the most repeated story to visitors who come to the Castle of Santa Bárbara is a boring and unoriginal legend - that of the "face of the Moor" - about the unfortunate love affairs of an Arab princess that would justify the existence of a face. in profile on the mountain on which it sits. A face that only a feverish imagination is able to glimpse seems an unnecessary fiction when the fortress that dominates the city has been the real scene of countless battles that, in many cases, changed the history of the people of Alicante in a dramatic way.
That is why it is worth applauding the initiative that the municipal Department of Tourism has launched this weekend, coinciding with the celebration of Santa Bárbara, and advocating for this and other means of dissemination to be accessible to the numerous travelers who come daily to Enjoy the unbeatable panoramic view of the city, the bay and the Alicante mountains offered by the most visited monument in the city.
Because how is it not going to capture the interest of the traveler to hear that before the first millennium of our era was completed, back in the year 924, the Muslim mayor Muhammad Al-Sayj revolted in the fortress in protest against the war of the emir Abd Al- Rahman III of Córdoba against the Kingdom of Navarra, which forced the famous emir's troops to go up to four times until they defeated the rebel.
Or that the current fortress owes its name to the fact that it was on a day like today, December 4, the feast of Santa Barbara, but in 1248, when Alicante was taken by the infante Alfonso of Castile, future monarch Alfonso
And how many, even those from Alicante, are unaware that 48 years later it was Jaume II who took the place for the Crown of Aragon, after fierce resistance in which the Castilian mayor died from a sword blow with the keys to the castle in his hand.
Even fewer will know how to relate that in the succession of confrontations that occurred in the 14th century between Pedro I of Castile and Pedro IV of Aragon, Alicante was conquered twice by the Castilians and reconquered by the Aragonese as many times, in battles that caused innumerable damage to a fortress that At the end of the conflict it was subjected to one of its frequent renovations.
Because the conservationist criterion that now guides our urban planners is a very modern thing, and practical reason determined until well into the last century all the public actions that, in the case of the Santa Bárbara castle, ended any vestige of the ancient Arab citadel . And not only that, because in the time of Charles I, fortifications were added to protect the city from the Turkish threat, and even more modifications were ordered by his son, Philip II. In the 16th century, a new fortification of the Castle was undertaken.
These were times of fear of pirate looting, against which the fortress served as protection for the city that grew at its feet. But also from war campaigns such as the 9 Years' War, when in 1691 the French fleet subjected the city to a brutal bombardment that damaged the fortress.
Again in 1706 the Austrians bombed the city and the castle again in the middle of the War of Succession. After eight days of battle, the English took the city, but Irish Marshal O'Mahomy and some militiamen resisted inside the castle for a while longer.
And how many English and French tourists pass through the city and leave it unaware that in 1709 the Castilian Bourbons led by the French general D'Asfeld besieged the castle that the English commander John Richards repeatedly refused to surrender.
How much more vibrant than the hoax of the "face of the Moor" is the story that culminates with the brutal explosion caused by the 1,500 kilos of gunpowder that the Frenchman detonated after introducing them into a tunnel dug under the citadel, ending Richards's life. and 20 of his soldiers, and destroying a large portion of the mountain and the castle.
Object of numerous reconstructions since then, prison for thousands of anonymous citizens and illustrious figures such as generals Francisco Serrano and Juan Prim. It was occupied in 1844 by Colonel Pantaleón Boné, leader of the rebellion that ended in the execution of the Martyrs for Liberty that today they name the promenade without the majority of those who circulate along it knowing its history.
He also witnessed the attempt by the Cartagena rebels to take the city from the bay during the First Republic, which resisted thanks to the defense organized by that Eleuterio Maisonnave whose statue stands at the beginning of the most commercial avenue of the modern city, which bears his name.
Once its defensive effectiveness was lost, in 1893 the Government decided to withdraw the artillery from the castle, which from 1919 became accommodation for cholera patients and beggars.
During the Civil War it recovered its prison function, being first used as a place of detention for rebels related to the Franco side and then, during the first post-war years, as a prison for republicans from those captured in the Port and the concentration camp of The Almond Trees.
After decades of abandonment, in 1961 it was declared a Historical Monument of Spain and an Asset of Cultural Interest. In 1963 it was opened to the public and at that time the two elevators that caused so many problems were installed.
Part of this long and eventful history is told in the talks that historians give on the ground these days, set with displays of weapons and changing of the guard. The Parade Ground is the center of the activities, where three different scenarios have been designed: the origins and the Middle Ages; the expansion and remodeling of the fortress in the Renaissance and the period between the War of Succession and the War of Independence.
