Castle of Cardona: A Medieval Fortress and Ducal Stronghold in Spain
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Medium
- Country
- Spain
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Carolingian, French, Spanish
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page17 sections
History
Castle of Cardona is a medieval fortified stronghold in Spain, above the town of Cardona in Catalonia. Developed by Carolingian and later Catalan rulers from the late ninth century, it commanded the Cardener valley and the nearby salt valley. Cardona’s salt mine provided the economic foundation for the power of the lords who controlled the castle, which became the seat of a major noble lineage and, in the eighteenth century, a prominent centre of resistance to Bourbon rule.
Carolingian frontier and repopulation
The castle first appears in the Carolingian period, when the Frankish dynasty ruled much of western Europe and supported the Christian reconquest and repopulation of parts of the Iberian frontier. An early Saracen raid destroyed the stronghold. In 798, Louis the Pious, the Frankish emperor and successor of Charlemagne, ordered its occupation and restoration as an outpost for preparing the reconquest of Barcelona.
That effort failed after the revolt of Aissó and Guillemó in 826. The rebellion disrupted Frankish control and contributed to the depopulation of central Catalonia. The fortress was restored definitively during the repopulation organized by Wilfred the Hairy, Count of Barcelona and a major ruler in the formation of the Catalan comtal territories, during the late ninth century.
Cardona preserves one of the region’s oldest settlement charters. Wilfred granted the document to the settlers of the castle at an uncertain date between 872 and 878, although some datings place it between 880 and 886. The castle’s construction is therefore broadly associated with the late ninth century. A settlement charter granted by Count Borrell to Viscount Ermenir in 986 appears to confirm that the Viscounts of Osona already controlled the castle.
The Viscounts of Cardona
From the late tenth century, the viscounts made the castle their residence. Their title gradually changed from Viscounts of Osona to Viscounts of Cardona, while the counts of Barcelona retained superior lordship. The Viscounts of Osona-Cardona exercised feudal lordship until jurisdictional lordships disappeared.
In 1040, Folc I adopted the name Folc of Cardona, establishing the Cardona barony. The family expanded its medieval power through pledges, sales, wills, and territorial acquisitions. In 1076, the sacramental will of Count Ramon Berenguer I explicitly left the Castle of Cardona to his sons, reflecting the fortress’s place within the political and dynastic structure of the county of Barcelona.
Ramon Folc I of Cardona supported Ramon Berenguer II in his conflict with Berenguer Ramon II and died during a Saracen raid on Maldà Castle in 1086. His successor, Ramon Folc II, married Isabel, daughter of Count Ermengol VI of Urgell, and became involved in conflicts within that county. In 1175, Guillem de Berguedà, a troubadour, assassinated Ramon Folc II. His daughter, Anglesa of Cardona, married Ramon VI, Count of Pallars Jussà, and for a time the name of Pallars overshadowed that of Cardona.
War and the creation of the county
Guillem I of Cardona fought beside King Peter the Catholic against the French at Muret in 1209. During the periods of Joan Ramon Folc III and Ramon Folc IV, the Cardona family also took part in noble conflicts against King James I. After a revolt by the viscount and other Catalan nobles, King Peter II recognized the Cardonas’ civil and criminal jurisdictions in 1280. Ramon Folc V later helped defend Girona against French troops in 1285.
During the fourteenth century, the castle became the centre of a group of castles connected with the family heir. Hug Folc II accompanied King Peter the Ceremonious on the expedition to Sardinia in 1354 and fought Bernat de Cabrera. In 1375, the king created the County of Cardona for him. The new county included numerous places and castles, gave its count free allodial ownership, and granted high jurisdiction, meaning authority over major criminal and civil cases.
From county to duchy
The Cardonas continued to alternate between cooperation and conflict with the royal government. Joan Ramon Folc I advised King Martin and supported the candidacy of James of Urgell after Martin’s death. The Compromise of Caspe in 1412 then brought the Castilian Trastamara dynasty into the Crown of Aragon, the composite monarchy that included Aragon and Catalonia and, at different times, territories in the Mediterranean.
Joan Ramon Folc III of Cardona and Prades supported King John II during the civil conflicts and later assisted Ferdinand the Catholic against the revolt of the Count of Pallars. In 1491, Cardona was raised from a county to a duchy. During the fifteenth century, the Dukes of Cardona became the most powerful lineage in the Crown of Aragon after the royal house. Their possessions extended through the Principality of Catalonia, Aragon, and Valencia, and their dynastic connections reached the royal houses of Castile, Portugal, Sicily, and Naples. Their position led to the description “kings without a crown.”
When Francesc of Aragon and Cardona died without descendants in 1575, the inheritance passed to his sister Joana II, who was married to Diego Fernandez de Cordoba, Marquis of Comares. The line continued through Enric, viceroy of Catalonia from 1632 to 1636, and Lluís Ramon, who held the title from 1640 to 1670. The possessions were later divided, and the inheritance was fully dissolved in the eighteenth century when it passed to the Dukes of Medinaceli.
Modern fortress and the War of the Spanish Succession
After the Reapers’ War, the Catalan revolt against the Spanish monarchy between 1640 and 1652, the medieval castle was modernized as a fortress. During the War of the Spanish Succession, the European conflict of 1701 to 1714 over the Spanish throne, Cardona became the Catalan military stronghold that resisted the Bourbon army for the longest period. In Catalonia, supporters of Archduke Charles opposed the Bourbon claimant Philip V. Cardona placed itself under the obedience of Archduke Charles in September 1705 and remained loyal to him throughout the conflict.
From 13 November to 22 December 1711, a Bourbon army of more than 10,000 soldiers commanded by Lieutenant General the Count of Muret besieged Cardona. General the Count of Egkh led approximately 2,000 defenders inside the fortress. The Bourbon forces occupied the town on 17 November, installed three artillery batteries, and bombarded the fortress for 35 days. The weakened garrison held out until an allied relief army fought the besiegers on 21 and 22 December. The allied victory prolonged the war at a time when the Bourbons held numerical superiority.
By late 1713, after the allied armies had abandoned Catalonia following the Peace of Utrecht, only Barcelona and Cardona still resisted Bourbon occupation. Barcelona fell on 11 September 1714. The Duke of Berwick then demanded Cardona’s surrender as a condition for sparing Barcelona’s population from reprisals. Governor Manuel Desvalls i de Vergós refused to accept enemy reports as authoritative and demanded honorable capitulations from Marshal the Count of Montemar. The 23 articles protected the lives and property of the fortress’s soldiers and officers and of Cardona’s inhabitants. The fortress capitulated on 18 September 1714, one week after Barcelona.
Barracks, preservation, and public interpretation
The castle was rebuilt after the War of the Spanish Succession and converted into a barracks during the nineteenth century. The collegiate church, a church served by a college of clergy rather than a monastic community, was also adapted for soldiers. During the War of the French, the 1808 to 1814 conflict in Spain against Napoleonic French forces, further major military alterations strengthened the outer works, converted the church into a barracks, and completed the outer redoubt.
The military command was abolished at the beginning of the twentieth century, after which the fortress fell into neglect. The collegiate church of Sant Vicenç was declared a National Monument in 1931, and the rest of the heritage complex received the same status in 1949. Since 1976, the castle has housed the Cardona Dukes Parador, a Spanish state-run historic hotel established in a significant historic building.
Management and conservation passed to the Generalitat of Catalonia, the autonomous government of Catalonia, in 2001. On 27 October 2010, the complex became Catalonia’s first parador-museum, operating in connection with the Historical Museum of Catalonia. Rehabilitation works in 2014 included interpretation and signage, museum interpretation of the casemate, adaptation of the bastions, and waterproofing of the collegiate church roof. The castle is protected as a Cultural Property of National Interest and classified as a historic monument. Its role as the last major place of resistance against Bourbon annexation in 1714 continues to give it symbolic importance for the Catalan movement.
Remains
The complex occupies a hill about 580 metres above sea level, at the eastern end of a small ridge extending westward. It stands beside a meander of the Cardener and overlooks the salt valley and the Cardener valley. Romanesque and Gothic elements survive within a fortress repeatedly altered as artillery and defensive practice changed. The medieval core is enclosed by later fortifications, artillery works, service buildings, and outer defenses.
Medieval and religious buildings
Torre de la Minyona
The Torre de la Minyona is the oldest relatively well-preserved element of the medieval fortress. Built in the eleventh century, it is a truncated tower 13 metres high with a base more than 10 metres in diameter. It originally rose to nearly 20 metres, and its elevated position made it useful for surveillance. Its solidity and relative isolation also allowed it to function as a powder magazine and secure prison. During the War of the French, its upper storey was removed in 1812, producing essentially the form visible today.
Collegiate church of Sant Vicenç
The collegiate church of Sant Vicenç de Cardona is a Romanesque building constructed between 1029 and 1040. Romanesque architecture uses massive masonry, rounded arches, and relatively solid forms. The church’s patron was Viscount Bermon I, while its architect is unknown. It is in an excellent state of conservation. Later military use adapted the building to accommodate soldiers, and its roof was waterproofed during the rehabilitation works of 2014.
Chapel of Sant Ramon Nonat
The Chapel of Sant Ramon Nonat was founded after an epidemic of plague in Catalonia. Tradition holds that Saint Ramon Nonat, who was related to the Cardona family, died at the castle in 1240. In December 1681, Duchess Caterina of Aragon and Sandoval ordered a chapel at the reputed place of his death, with an altar, altarpiece, and silver lamp. Construction began in February 1682. The sculptor Pau Sunyer made the altarpiece, and the local silversmith Magí Torrabruna gilded it. The altarpiece was restored in 2021. Several devotional songs dedicated to the saint, the patron of Cardona, are associated with the chapel.
Portico of Sant Vicenç
The portico of Sant Vicenç was formerly covered with mural paintings. The paintings were restored in 1960 and are now preserved at the National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona.
Fortifications and artillery works
Early bastion ring
The medieval fortress was enlarged progressively as military technology developed. The first modern fortification project dates from 1682 and was designed by the engineer Ambrosio Borsano. A ring of bastions was built around the ducal castle, initially without an outer moat or covered way. A bastion is a projecting fortification that allows defensive fire along the faces of adjoining walls.
By the War of the Spanish Succession, the fortress had bastions and external artillery batteries. A powder magazine was built at the foot of the collegiate church, while the Sant Llorenç Bastion, the bastion nearest the town, was reconstructed. The powder magazine stored gunpowder and other military explosives for the fortress’s artillery.
Outer works and redoubt
The outer defenses were substantially strengthened during the War of the French. Damaged bastions were demolished and rebuilt, the remaining bastions were reinforced, and the collegiate church was converted into a barracks. The outer redoubt, also called a bonnet, was completed as part of these works. The reinforcement programme also included construction of the casemate.
Casemate and service magazines
The casemate served in the eighteenth century as an artillery position protecting the covered way, nearby outer works, and a powder magazine. A casemate is a fortified chamber used for artillery, storage, or protection, while a covered way is a protected passage around a fortress. In 1812, solid walls enclosed the entire space. The casemate has two levels, a lower bunker-like level with five gun ports and an upper external level with four embrasures, or openings through which artillery could fire.
The structure also contained an arms store and a service powder magazine. This smaller magazine supplied the surrounding batteries without requiring movement to the main magazine, which had been established over the former Canons’ House. Three service powder magazines survive within the fortress, at the casemate, Sant Vicenç, and Sant Carles. The casemate is also regarded as a semi-bastion and is one of the strongest works in the defensive complex.
