Castell de Ciutat: A Historic Fortress in Spain
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.5
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Spain
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Spanish
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Fort
On this page9 sections
History
Castell de Ciutat is a historic fortress in Spain, above Castellciutat in the municipality of La Seu d’Urgell, whose present form is a seventeenth-century Vauban-type fortification developed on the site of a medieval stronghold. The hill occupied a commanding position in the Urgellet valley, and its history reflects repeated struggles among the counts of Urgell, the bishops of Urgell, the viscounts of Castellbò, and later the counts of Foix.
Medieval comital residence
The site appears in written records from 1064, although the castle itself is not clearly mentioned until the twelfth century. It may have been the place called pujo Urgelli in eleventh-century documents. Before the counts of Urgell established their residence closer to the frontier, they maintained a permanent residence here. A document of 1099 calls it the palacio Civitatis, or palace of Ciutat.
Once the comital residence had moved elsewhere, the site attracted the attention of the viscounts of Castellbò. In 1135, Pere Ramon de Castellbò fortified the former residence. Bishop Pere Berenguer then asserted that the bishopric had held lordship rights there since the tenth century. Ermengol VI, count of Urgell and an arbitrator in the dispute, awarded the town and the right to construct a castle to the viscount, provided that the fortress would be returned to the count whenever he required it.
Disputes over lordship
Ermengol VI altered the intended succession in his testament of 1154, directing that the castle should pass to the Church. In the same year, Ramon de Castellbò and Bernat Sanç, bishop of Urgell, concluded an agreement in which the viscount recognized the Church’s rights and undertook not to use the castle against the bishopric.
The ownership dispute resurfaced in 1167, during the rule of Count Ermengol VII. The Church then received Castell de Ciutat as freehold property, meaning that it was held with freedom from certain feudal obligations. This transfer coincided with the beginning of the pontificate of Arnau de Preixens, bishop of Urgell.
Wars and the counts of Foix
In 1190, Count Ermengol VIII authorized and paid for rebuilding at the castle. In return, Arnau de Castellbò surrendered control of Castellbò, its dependencies, Roca de Beren, and other fortifications, including Vilamitjana and Campmajor. Fighting nevertheless followed and ended with a peace treaty in 1194. A second conflict between Ermengol of Urgell, Arnau de Castellbò, and Roger Bernat de Foix concluded with the treaty of 1206, which again recognized the count’s sovereignty over Castell de Ciutat and other fortresses.
After the viscounty of Castellbò was incorporated into the County of Foix in 1226, following the death of Viscount Arnau, Castell de Ciutat became a strategic center for the territorial ambitions of the counts of Foix. In 1256, the count of Urgell granted the fortress as freehold property to Roger IV of Foix, strengthening the connection between the site and the Foix interests.
Rebuilding and the War of the Spanish Succession
The medieval castle was entirely reconstructed during the seventeenth century. Further rebuilding took place in 1751, followed by additional work during the Carlist period, the nineteenth-century conflicts between supporters of the Carlist succession claims and supporters of Spain’s established liberal monarchy.
Castell de Ciutat also played a role in the War of the Spanish Succession, an early-eighteenth-century European conflict over the Spanish monarchy. Josep Moragues i Mas served as governor. After the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 brought much of the conflict to an end and required the Allied evacuation of Catalonia, Allied forces began withdrawing on 30 June. Moragues surrendered Castellciutat to Bourbon forces on 28 September.
He briefly retreated to Sort, then returned to the fighting and raised the Urgell. On 11 February he blockaded Castellciutat, but General Vallejo repelled the attack after a French relief column arrived.
Modern restoration
After years of abandonment, the Tàpies family acquired the fortress in 1970. They restored its historic section and adapted the property into a tourist complex. A motel built at the foot of the castle later became known as Hotel El Castell, giving the restored property a new use while retaining the historic core.
Remains
Castell de Ciutat occupies a hill in the Urgellet valley, on Puig d’Urgell. The elevation is given as 764 metres for the hill and approximately 748 metres for the castle. The surviving complex combines the angular defenses of a modern artillery fortress with elements associated with the earlier medieval castle.
Modern fortress
The modern defenses follow the Vauban system, an artillery-fortification method associated with the French military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban. Its characteristic angular bastions allowed overlapping defensive fire. Castell de Ciutat has five named bastions, Trobada, Cup, Sant Esteve, Sant Ermengol, and Sant Isidre, together with the Solsona Tower outwork, a detached defensive work. The Sant Isidre Bastion was rebuilt in 1751.
Medieval structures
A fragment of the northwestern wall of the upper structure may belong to an earlier phase than the modern defenses. Its different foundation and its large, unworked granite cobbles, set in exceptionally strong mortar, distinguish it from the later work. At the top of the fragment, the apparent springing of a tower can still be seen.
The medieval castle was described as a simple four-sided structure without projecting towers. It included a large raised mound inside the town and another outside it, while the roof was covered entirely with very thin stone slabs. In the courtyard, a circular well built of cut stone was covered and supplied by continuously flowing water. A windlass drew water from it, and the well survives.
The medieval complex also contained a chapel with an altar dedicated to Saint George. The chapel had no income, indicating its religious function within the castle without an independent financial endowment.
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