Friends of Sant Ferran Castle in Figueres
Amics del Castell de Sant Ferran in Figueres is a non-profit association founded on 28 April 1996 in Figueres and was declared a "Public Utility" by the Government of Catalonia in 2006.
The purposes of the Association are marked by its statutes and are as follows:
- a) Promote and support all those activities related to the nature of the Monument, mainly those aimed at the conservation, preservation, contemplation and dissemination of this heritage, one of the most notable examples of eighteenth-century polyorcetic architecture, with the collaboration of the citizens of Figueres and the surrounding municipalities.
- b) Promote the proper introduction to the Monument of appropriate social activities, museum realization, search facilities and schools workshops.
- c) Establish bibliographic, documentary and audiovisual collections.
- d) Be present in any scientific initiative on the strength and its environment, while in constant collaboration with the authorities and entities responsible for ensuring the defense of heritage.
- e) Promote meetings, seminars, congresses and conferences on the progress of research.
- f) Promote the editing and dissemination of research in any medium or medium.
- g) Integrate and establish collaboration agreements with other national or foreign entities for purposes consistent with the previous sections.
- h) Promote and support all those activities of general interest, within the current legislation and, in particular, those of a cultural, pedagogical, civic and sports nature, trying to boost the cultural tourism of the Monument.
The first document stating the call for a founding group on 12 April 1996 was signed by Alfons Romero on 8 April and the aim was to set up the Management Committee of the Association of Friends of Sant Ferran Castle.
Finally, on April 28, they met to sign the FOUNDING ACT. This signatory group was formed by: Juan Manuel Alfaro Guixot, neighbor of Figueres, Enrique Viñas Manuel, neighbor of Figueres, Joan Falgueras Font, neighbor of Figueres, and Pablo de la Fuente de Pablo, neighbor of La Jonquera, and they agree to constitute the entity called Associació d'Amics del Castell de Sant Ferran and approve the statutes by which it will be governed.
History in documents
On 12 August 1996, the first Management Committee was formed with the assignment of positions, and Mr. Manuel Villoria i Font was president.
and finally during the assembly of November 21 of the same year, the first Board of Directors of the Association was appointed. This Board would be formed by: President: Manuel Villoria i Font, Vice-President: Enric Viñas Manuel, Secretary: José Maria López Sevillano, Treasurer: Josep Maria Poch Ymbert, Board Member: Luís del Pozo and Puig de Senillosa, Board Member: Joaquim Bech de Careda i Frigola, Board Member: Joan Manuel Alfaro i Guixot, Board Member: Joan Falgarona i Cortada, Board Member: Alfons Romero i Dalmau, Board Member: Joan Falgueras Font.
That same day, the change of address was approved, which will be from that moment on, and until the transfer to the Castle itself, Plaça del Gra, 16-1º in Figueres.
In October 2000, the Board was renewed and the presidency was assumed by Mr. Fernando López de Castro Fa.
On 20 December 2005, ratified by assembly, Mr. Antonio Herrera Lope de la Cova officially assumed the presidency
In 2017, when César Barrenechea Montero assumed the post of President, and from the extraordinary assembly in December 2021, the elections marking the statutes were held, a new President and a new Board of Directors were appointed. The new president from 2022 will be Federico Luque Carrillo.
The objective of the Association is completely selfless and apolitical and its statutes mark purposes that include the conservation, study, conservation and research of heritage, edition and dissemination, bibliographic collections, seminars, congresses and conferences, carrying out social activities and promoting activities of a cultural, pedagogical, civic and sporting nature.
Meeting period 2022-2025
Vocal
The Castle
The Castle of Sant Ferran in Figueres is a square with bastions with symmetrical irregular pentagon plant on an east-west axis. It is composed of two enclosures that occupy a total area of 550,000 m2; of them, more than fifty thousand cutlery. The interior enclosure, with an area of 325,000 m2, consists of six bastions joined by curtains. Attached to the curtains and with access to the pit, the stables that have capacity for 500 horses and their riders were built. They are also attached to the curtains of the warehouses, which can store groceries for 10,000 people in a year. In the center of the castle is the plaza of arms, of 149 x 80 meters. It is surrounded by pavilions for the accommodation of authorities and commanders with their families and a Church, not finished. Under the plaza of weapons are located four large cisterns with a total capacity of nine million liters of water. To the north is the hospital (destroyed) and to the south the arsenal and the bakery. The outer enclosure, consisting of three hornabecs, 6 revellins and two contraguards, is separated from the interior by a large moat. The outer perimeter, the covered path, is 3,120 meters. It is a real treatise on elements of the fortification with bastions of the 18th century.
The association
The purposes of the Association are: a) To promote and support all those activities related to the nature of the Monument, mainly those aimed at the conservation, preservation, contemplation and dissemination of this heritage, one of the most notable examples of polyorcetic architecture of the 18th century, with the collaboration of the citizens of Figueres and the municipalities around it. b) Promote the proper introduction to the Monument of appropriate social activities, museum realization, research facilities and workshop schools. c) Constitute bibliographic, documentary and audiovisual collections. d) To be present in any scientific initiative on the strength and its environment, at the same time as in constant collaboration with the authorities and entities responsible for ensuring the defence of heritage. e) Promote meetings, seminars, congresses and conferences on the progress of research. f) Promote the editing and dissemination of research in any medium or medium. g) Integrate and establish collaboration agreements with other national or foreign entities for purposes consistent with the previous sections. h) Promote and support all those activities of general interest, within the current legislation and, especially, those of a cultural, pedagogical, civic and sporting nature, trying to boost the cultural tourism of the Monument.
The city
Figueres is a city in Catalonia, capital of the Alt Empordà region and head of the judicial party of Figueres. It is the main urban nucleus and the economic and commercial pole of the Empordà. It is located in the center of the Empordà plain, 39 meters above sea level, at the northeast end of Catalonia. At his feet runs the torrent of Galligans, which provides manol rainwater from the western commas. The Puig de les Basses with 136 meters as the highest point. The main characteristic of Figueres is the north wind. Around 600 BC there would be on the hill of La Muntanyeta (where the Castle of Sant Ferran is currently located) a primitive Iberian settlement of the tribe of the indicetes. At that time much of the Altempordanese plain was flooded by wetlands and large expanses of reeds. It is well connected because, thanks to its location, from Figueres you can go to the beach, the mountains or cross the Franco-Spanish border in an interval not exceeding half an hour. The main thoroughfares are the railway line from Barcelona to Portbou, and the line that connects from Paris to Figueres with the high-speed train network, the AP-7 motorway from Barcelona to La Jonquera, the N-II road from Barcelona to France and other secondary roads that connect the Alt Empordà with the Pla de l'Estany, The Garrotxa and the Baix Empordà.