The Heroes of 1809 - Barcelona, Spain
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member denben
N 41° 23.015 E 002° 10.547
31T E 431084 N 4581667
The monument Als Herois del 1809 is located Plaça de Garriga i Bachs against the side wall of the church of San Severo in front of the entrance to the cloister of the cathedral of Barcelona.
Waymark Code: WMQMBF
Location: Cataluña, Spain
Date Posted: 03/02/2016
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Metro2
Views: 15

The monument Als Herois del 1809 (Monument to the Heroes of 1809), also known as the Monument to the Martyrs of Independence, depicts a group of five smaller than life size bronze figures, surmounted by a stone relief of two angels. The architectural design is by Pere Benavent de Barberà i Abelló and the Catalan sculptors are Josep Llimona i Bruguera (Barcelona 1864 - Barcelona 1934) and Vicenç Navarro i Romero (Valencia 1888 - Barcelona 1978). Josep Llimona made the bronze group in 1929-30 and it was placed on this location in 1941. The stone angels were made by Vicenç Navarro.

The monument is dedicated to the memory of the locals who lead the insurgency against Napoleon's troops in 1809, in a plot that took place on May 14th and that failed. During the Napoleonic wars, the city was occupied and militarized as a stronghold of the French army, under the command of General Duhesme. The revolt sought to raise all the people against the forces of occupation and liberate Barcelona. Five conspirators were arrested and executed on June 3rd, on the promenade of the Esplanade, as an exemplary punishment. They were Juan Gallifa (1775-1809) and Joaquim Pou (two priests), Jose Navarro (second lieutenant of the Soria Regiment) and Juan Massana and Salvador Aulet (two citizens). Three other insurgents, Ramon Mas (carpenter), Julian Portet (trader) and Pedro Lastortras (locksmith) were also arrested and sentenced to death on June 27, 1809.

The 2 May 1808 revolt was one of many nationalist uprisings across Spain against the Bonapartist regime. These revolts marked the beginning of a devastating war of independence against the Napoleonic regime. Further military action by Spanish armies, guerrillas and Wellington's British-Portuguese forces, combined with Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, led to the ousting of the French imperial armies from Spain in 1814, and the return of King Ferdinand VII.

The plaque reads (Spanish):
El P. Jvan Gallifa : El Dr. Joaqvin Pov
D. Jvan Massana : D. Salvador Avlet
D. Jose navarro : D. Pedro Lastortras
D. Jvlian Portet : y : D. Ramon Mas
Sacrificaron sv vida
Por dios por la patria. y : por el rey
LA CIVDAD AGRADECIDA
Enaltece aqvi perpetvament sv memoria
mcmxxix

Translation:
El P. Juan Gallifa : El Dr. Joaquim Pou
D. Juan Massana : D. Salvador Aulet
D. Jose Navarro : D. Pedro Lastortras
D. Julian Portet : and : D. Ramon Mas
They sacrificed their life
For God, for their country. and : for the King
The Grateful City
In perpetual memory
MCMXXIX

Sources: (visit link) and (visit link) and (visit link) and (visit link)
URL of the statue: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
You must have visited the site in person, not online.
Search for...
Geocaching.com Google Map
Google Maps
MapQuest
Bing Maps
Nearest Waymarks
Nearest Statues of Historic Figures
Nearest Geocaches
Create a scavenger hunt using this waymark as the center point
Recent Visits/Logs:
Date Logged Log User Rating  
ajmdebest visited The Heroes of 1809 - Barcelona, Spain 01/20/2024 ajmdebest visited it
seal13 visited The Heroes of 1809 - Barcelona, Spain 05/20/2023 seal13 visited it
Lynx Humble visited The Heroes of 1809 - Barcelona, Spain 04/18/2019 Lynx Humble visited it
greysman visited The Heroes of 1809 - Barcelona, Spain 01/14/2019 greysman visited it
jj_lider visited The Heroes of 1809 - Barcelona, Spain 12/02/2017 jj_lider visited it
Tumbrel visited The Heroes of 1809 - Barcelona, Spain 07/05/2017 Tumbrel visited it
sobersong visited The Heroes of 1809 - Barcelona, Spain 04/13/2016 sobersong visited it

View all visits/logs