Time team to preserve fortress
THE HISTORIC ruins of Castell de la Granadella in Jávea are to be preserved in a project costing more than €280,000 to turn back time.
The fortification, used as a base to site artillery to protect the coast, will also get a facelift to highlight its original architecture and military purpose.
It was destroyed by British troops in the Peninsula War against Napoleon Bonaparte – in Spain known as the War of Independence – more than 200 years ago to prevent the French using the gun tower to threaten allied shipping.
It is the last remaining reminder of these troubled times on Jávea’s coast. Troops were landed by boat in 1812 and used gunpowder and mines to make the fort unusable.
A similar fate was suffered by castles at La Fontana and La Mesquida; but no visible sign remains of these structures.
Originally built in 1739, it followed the military manual of the time with a floor space of about 140m2 and erected in the shape of a horseshoe or ‘ox’s hoof ’.
The plan now is to consolidate the remaining walls and rebuild an internal spiral staircase, as well as preserving an attached cistern – landscaping the area to give an interpretation of how such a military instillation looked and worked.
Built on a rocky point at Granadella, the fort was given protection as a listed building in 1996 and has already been the subject of archaeological studies, with items of interest placed in the town museum. The council, which will apply for grants to help fund the renovation, said the cost of repairs reflected the difficulty of transporting materials to the site.