Bien: Edificio de las Antiguas Atarazanas Reales hoy Maestranza de Artillería
Comunidad Autónoma: C.A. Andalucía
Provincia: Sevilla
Municipio: Sevilla
Categoría: Monumento
Código: (R.I.) - 51 - 0003803 - 00000
Registro: (R.I.) REGISTRO BIC INMUEBLES: Código definitivo
Fecha de Incoación: 01-02-1968
Fecha de Declaración: 13-03-1969
"The Royal Spanish Academy defines a workshop, in its second meaning, as " a set of workshops and offices where the assemblies for the artillery pieces are built and recomposed, as well as the cars and tools necessary for their service. "
On March 13, 1969, the State declared the Shipyards a Historic-Artistic Monument, which made up the Maestranza, and on June 18, 1985, the Artillery Maestranza was declared a Site of Cultural Interest in the category of Monument.
History
When King Alfonso created the Shipyards to build galleys for campaigns in the Strait of Gibraltar, in the 13th century, it was necessary that they be duly armed. For this reason, a couple of ships were assigned to store cannons, gunpowder and other military supplies. 4 From the 16th century, with the overseas trade, these ships near the sea were largely used for the storage of products. In 1502, as Columbus prepared for his fourth voyage to the Indies, he requested ammunition from the arsenal held by the Atarazanas.
Since 1513, the Casa de Contratación de Indias (headquartered in Seville since 1503) was provided with a powder room, school and naval and land artillery service and a weapons room was located in the Alcázar. The city also had an important Artillery Factory in the San Bernardo neighborhood.
In 1552, a Royal Decree ordered that a large quantity of weapons should always be kept in the Atarazanas: "1,500 arquebuses, 500 coseletes, 10,500 morions, 200 quintals of gunpowder, 500 field pikes, 100 half pikes, 300 dozen gorguces and 200 halberds and partans".
During the occupation of Portugal by the Duke of Alba (1580-1583) weapons from the Sevillian Atarazanas, close to the Portuguese country, were used. As a result of this fact, Felipe II authorized in 1587 that workshops and foundries were installed in his ships so that they could permanently manufacture weapons.
The 18th century would make artillery pieces more important in warfare, both horse-drawn and human-carried.
The transfer of the Casa de Contratación de Indias to Cádiz in 1717 provided more space in the Atarazanas for the facilities to build and rebuild artillery tools to be expanded. In 1718 the Crown spent 60,000 reales to expand the area destined for this master work. In 1719, by Royal Order, the Artillery Maestranza was installed in 5 of the shipyards. The assistant of the city, Lorenzo González de Villavicencio, entrusted Alberto Mierison with the conditioning of these ships. In 1753 Juan Lorenzo Catalán and Francisco Jiménez Bonilla made some trusses and vaults in the building.
In 1758 Juan Manuel de Porres signs a plan where you can see where the coal cellar, forges, offices, etc. were located. In 1785 the monarch Carlos III approves the realization of some reforms. From this last project, the closure of the Atarazanas along Calle 2 de Mayo, the front pavilion and a tall chimney are preserved. In 1786 the front pavilion, facing west, was completed by Francisco Jiménez Bonilla.
At the back of the central nave there was a chapel where a painting of Santa Bárbara, patron saint of artillerymen, by Alonso Miguel Tovar, was placed in the 18th century. This would be replaced in the 19th century by a copy of an Immaculate by Murillo. Another notable piece was a large iron scale from the 18th century made by the blacksmith Sebastián Conde.
The current facade is from 1786. In 1873 many of the weapons that were used in the Canton of Seville and the Canton of Malaga will leave these warehouses .
In 1807, the first school for apprentices was created in the Maestranza, in which workshop masters and workers were trained. The facade was painted in 1920. The Artillery Maestranza was in operation until 1970. That year it ceased its manufacturing function to become a Recruitment, Archives and Offices Center. In 1993 the Junta de Andalucía bought it from the Ministry of Defence, removed it and carried out archaeological research on the building. Likewise, the partition walls, the false ceilings and the new enclosures were removed to expose the old naves, later allocating them to cultural visits.
The Military History Museum of Seville , located in the Plaza de España in the same city, draws largely on funds from the old Artillery Maestranza."
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