T2xC3 - Explosions and Capuchins | Cultural Heritage. Goverment of Catalonia.

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T2xC3 - Explosions and Capuchins

After more than a century of waiting, the expansion works for the Port of Tarragona resumed in 1790. Having overcome so many obstacles, people were in a rush to see it grow. Perhaps a little too much so.

The explosion was terrible. The building shook from top to bottom, the walls trembled as if they were made of paper, and dust fell from the crumbling ceilings of every room. Amid the commotion, no one heard the cries of Brother Josef Antonio de Riudoms. A fairly large stone had fallen on him, injuring him.

Things were getting out of hand. Since the works on the Port had begun six years earlier, such detonations had become commonplace. At first, they had been frightened, and then they had taken it with resignation. If the Lord’s will had decreed that the Capuchin monastery be built atop the Pons d’Icart quarry, all that remained was to pray and hope that the disturbances would eventually cease. 
 


1. Map of lands owned by Josep Anton de Castellarnau on which the new Capuchin Fathers’ monastery was built (4 September 1802). Junta Protectora de les Obres del Port de Tarragona Collection.

2. Certificate from the director of the port works listing the prisoners who had worked on the project during May 1816. Junta Protectora de les Obres del Port de Tarragona Collection. 

The works, however, never seemed to end, and the labourers slowly chipped away at the rock. They made holes at strategic points, filled them with gunpowder, and detonated them. And so day after day, material was provided for the port works, transported by mules and carts that came and went constantly.

The urban landscape was changing, but the Capuchins continued with their lives as best they could. No one, after all, warned them when there was a new explosion. The labourers showed no consideration and set off the blasts at any hour, even while mass was being said. And with each detonation, the rumble was enormous; it seemed as if the earth would open up beneath their feet. It was not just a feeling. There was real danger, as the stone extraction work was increasingly taking place closer to the monastery.



1. Stone extraction work at the Pons d’Icart quarry for the new port works, where prisoners were employed. Between 1866 and 1867. Author: J. Martínez Sánchez.

2. Letter from Tarragona City Council to Fernando Seidel, engineer and director of the port works, highlighting the danger posed by the blasts from the quarry and the proximity of the Capuchin Fathers’ monastery (12 August 1796). Junta Protectora de les Obres del Port de Tarragona Collection.

For this reason, when in August 1796 a stone struck Brother Josef Antoni on the head, the abbot of the monastery went straight to see the mayor. He had no trouble putting himself in the Capuchins’ position, as the explosions were disturbing half the city, and he promised to take the necessary steps to remedy the situation. The mayor kept his word. On 12 August 1796, he sent a note to the director of the port works, Fernando Seidel, explaining what had happened. 

At first, everything continued as before, but the port authorities kept receiving complaints, and finally, in August 1801, they decided that whenever there was an explosion at the quarry, a flag would be raised at the Capuchin monastery, and the bell would be rung to warn the population so that people would have time to take cover and avoid personal injuries. 
 


1. Profile of the street leading to the Port from the Capuchin monastery No date. Junta Protectora de les Obres del Port de Tarragona Collection.

2. Certificate of payment to the syndic of the Capuchin Fathers of Tarragona for the rebuilding of the new monastery (1 February 1816). Junta Protectora de les Obres del Port de Tarragona Collection. 

Port of Tarragona Archive

It should be noted, however, that by the time all these measures were taken, the monks had already left the building because it was impossible to continue living in a place that could shatter like a pomegranate under so much gunpowder. In 1800, the Capuchins moved temporarily into some warehouses while waiting for the new monastery to be completed, which was not finished until 1805. The construction was overseen by the Junta Protectora de les Obres del Port de Tarragona, which preserved the documentation; these records now form part of the holdings of the Port of Tarragona Archive. 



View of the Port of Tarragona Archive.

Do you want to know more details about this story?

Consult the original document on which this story is based at the Port of Tarragona Digital Archive.

Port of Tarragona Archive 


The importance of the document

And, if you still want to delve deeper, watch this video in which Coia Escoda, director of the Port of Tarragona Archive, explains the importance of the document chosen to tell this story.