DUGi

Chapter 66. The Citadel of Roses (Spain): a project of socialisation of Archaeological Heritage

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The Bay of Roses is in the extreme northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, very close to the border with France. The bay is a privileged place that is protected from the main winds, which make sailing in this area difficult. This makes it an exceptional port of refuge and has marked much of the history of human occupation of the zone. The fortress known as the Citadel is a bastioned fortification constructed in the middle of the sixteenth century whose function was to protect the Bay of Roses and its port. This was a space of great strategic value at the time, situated on the route that joined the Iberian Peninsula with the south of France and Italy. Currently, the Citadel, which has lost its military function, has been converted into a first-class archaeological park. Within it, archaeological remains have been discovered that span from the foundation of the Greek colony of Rhode in the fourth century BCE practically up to the current time, passing through the occupations of the Roman era, late antiquity, medieval and of course the modern era, when the fortress was in operation. All of this is framed within the walls that delimit and define the space. In recent decades, important scientific work has been undertaken to study this historical past. At the same time, the Citadel has been made into a space that goes beyond an archaeological park to become a social area in which a large number of cultural and leisure activities take place

Architecture, Media, Politics, Society (AMPS)