The explosion of the mine carried out by the French general D’Asfeld during the War of Succession in 1709 showed the weaknesses of one of the most solid fortresses of the Spanish Levante: the castle of Alicante. One of those in charge of drawing up proposals for its reconstruction and consolidation was the military engineer Antonio Montaigut.
Since ancient times, Alicante has been a key strategic point for controlling the Levantine coast. Surrounded by the capes of La Huerta and Santa Pola, it was governed from the top of the Alicante hill and its castle of Santa Bárbara. As mentioned above, one of those in charge of improving its defences was Antonio Montaigut, who worked on a previous project by Jorge Próspero de Verboom.
By the mid-1720s, Valencia and Murcia already had Montaigut as their chief engineer. His task was to carry out the defensive projects and inform the general state engineer about the steps to be taken: to complete the works proposed by Verboom in the city of Alicante, but also to work on the castle, which had been orphaned of work since the previous projects. As shown in the appeal, the most important thing was to replace the batteries with a new reinforced bastion and to protect the way up to the castle, where the Cavalry Corps and the soldiers, until now located in houses due to the absence of barracks, would be housed.

Collection: Images

Project: 3. Rural world and urban world in the formation of the European identity., 6. Under a cloak of terror: violence and armed conflict in Europe.

Chronology: XVIII

Scope: Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University, Postgraduate

Link: http://www.tiemposmodernos.org/tm3/index.php/tm/article/view/270

Resource type: Image

Format: Map

Source: Pérez, M. I. (2012). "Antonio Montaigut, Esteban de Panón y Juan Martín Zermeño. Tres propuestas para la defensa del castillo de Alicante", en Tiempos modernos, nº 24, p. 8.

Language: Spanish

Date: 1724

Owner: Roberto José Alcalde López (Modernalia)

Copyright: ©Tiempos Modernos ©María Isabel Pérez Millán

Abstract: Plan of the castle of Alicante with the proposals of Antonio Montaigut (1724) in the search to optimise the defences of Jorge Próspero de Verboom

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