Logbook · 12 places

Castle of Sant Ferran

Figueres, Alt Empordà, Girona

1 Villages · 6 Monuments · 3 Activities · 1 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

Spain › Catalonia › Girona › Alt Empordà › Figueres › Castle of Sant Ferran

Castle of Sant Ferran

Monument · Figueres, Alt Empordà, Girona

An 18th-century military fortress built according to the system of the engineer Vauban, under the direction of the military engineers Pedro and Juan Martín Cermeño; with more than 320,000 m², or 550,000 counting its glacis, it is one of the largest fortifications in Europe and the largest monument in Catalonia. It was built from 1753 onward, when the nearby castle of Bellaguarda passed into French hands after the Treaty of the Pyrenees, and it owes its name to King Ferdinand VI. It can be toured with a guided visit, including its bastions, the stables capable of housing three cavalry squadrons and its spectacular underground cistern, located eight metres below the parade ground, with four tanks that together held 9,000 m³ of drinking water.

Photo: Asarola (CC BY-SA 3.0)

What to see and do in Figueres