Roses
Encyclopedia
Roses (ˈrɔzəs) is a municipality
in the comarca
of the Alt Empordà
in Catalonia
, Spain
. It is situated on the coast at the northern end of the Gulf of Roses, and is an important fishing
port and tourist centre. The C-260 road links the town with Figueres
.
. It seems more probable, however, that it was founded in the 5th century BC by Greeks from Massalia (Marseille
s), perhaps with an admixture of colonists from neighbouring Emporion (today's Empúries
). Remains of the Greek settlement can still be seen. Remains from the Roman period
go back to the 2nd century BC and continue well into Christian times with a paleochristian church and necropolis
. After the collapse of Roman power the town seems to have been abandoned, but a fortified settlement from the Visigothic period has been excavated on the nearby Puig Rom.
The monastery
of Santa Maria de Roses is mentioned for the first time in a document of the year 944. Around this monastery grew the mediaeval town of Roses, which fell under the shared jurisdiction of the abbots of Santa Maria de Roses and the counts of Empúries
. In 1402 the county of Empúries was incorporated in the Crown of Aragon
and Roses acquired the right to organize its own municipal governmentand the economy
s from North Africa. To counter this threat, Charles V
ordered the construction of extensive fortifications in 1543. In spite of these precautions, a naval squadron led by the Turkish admiral Barbarossa attacked and plundered the town some months later. After substantial revisions, the fortifications were completed in 1553, under Charles's son Philip II
. The entire medieval town was now enclosed by a bastioned pentagonal wall (illustration, below). The defensive system was supplemented by the Castell de la Trinitat, some 2.5 km to the east. The town received a permanent military garrison, which changed its character profoundly. To minimise friction between the citizenry and the soldiers, barracks were constructed, but this did not prevent a gradual movement of part of the population outside the walls, where the modern town of Roses now is.
In the following centuries the fortifications were severely tested. In 1645, during the Catalan Revolt, French troops besieged Roses and captured it. The Treaty of the Pyrenees
(1659) restored the town to Spain.
In 1693, during the War of the Grand Alliance
the French captured the town again. This time the French occupation lasted until the Peace of Ryswick
in 1697. In 1712, during the War of the Spanish Succession
, Austrian troops tried to take the city, but were driven off. In 1719, during the War of the Quadruple Alliance
, the French again attacked, and but failed to take Roses.
After a long period of relative calm the Wars of the French Revolution ushered in a new round of hostilities. In 1793 the French revolutionary government declared war on Spain. At first, the Spanish armies won a foothold in France, but in 1794 the revolutionary armies invaded Catalonia. The Siege of Roses
lasted from 28 November 1794 until 3 February 1795, when the garrison was safely evacuated by a Spanish naval squadron, except for 300 unlucky soldiers. The town was surrendered to France, but the war between France and Spain ended at the Peace of Basle signed in July 1795. The city quickly returned to Spanish control.
In 1808, Emperor Napoleon I of France
forced King Charles IV of Spain
and his son Ferdinand to abdicate and installed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte
on the throne. When the Spanish people revolted against this high-handed behavior, French armies invaded the country again in the Peninsular War
. Roses was besieged for the fourth and last time. During this siege, the famed Scottish captain of the Royal Navy Thomas Cochrane
assisted the Spanish by putting his men into Castell de la Trinitat to help defend the town. The Scot stayed until the citadel and the town surrendered, before finally evacuating himself and his men. In 1814, when the defeated French withdrew from Spain, they blew up the town's fortifications along with the Castell de la Trinitat. At this time, the ancient town, called the Ciutadella, was completely ruined. Meanwhile, to the east the modern town slowly continued to grow.
, a pest of the grapevines, which destroyed the town's wine growing industry. Part of the population moved to Barcelona
or emigrated to the United States.
In the 20th century, notably in the period after World War II
, Roses has profited enormously from the growth of tourism.
Over the last decades important excavations have been carried out inside the walls of the Ciutadella. This concerns not only the Greek and Roman remains, but also part of the medieval city and its walls. In the 1990s extensive restoration work was carried out on the walls of the Ciutadella, and in 2004 a museum was opened inside it. A somewhat controversial restoration of the Castell de Trinitat was formally completed in 2010.
Since 1961, Roses has been the home of El Bulli
, one of the world's best and most famous restaurants.
El Bulli closed in July 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/30/el-bulli-closes-ferran-adria http://www.elbulli.com
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
in the comarca
Comarques of Catalonia
This is a list of the comarques of Catalonia . A comarca is roughly equivalent to a US "county" or a UK "district". However, in the context of Catalonia, the term "county" can be a bit misleading, because in medieval Catalonia, the most important rulers were counts, notably the Counts of Barcelona...
of the Alt Empordà
Alt Empordà
Alt Empordà is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain, one of two into which Empordà was divided by the comarcal division of Catalonia in 1936.- Municipalities :Populations are as of 2001.*Agullana - pop. 668*Albanyà - pop. 99*L'Armentera - pop. 742...
in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. It is situated on the coast at the northern end of the Gulf of Roses, and is an important fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
port and tourist centre. The C-260 road links the town with Figueres
Figueres
Figueres is the capital of the comarca of Alt Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain.The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí, a large museum designed by Dalí himself which attracts many visitors...
.
Early history
The origins of Roses are disputed. A popular theory holds it was founded in the 8th century BC by Greek colonists from RhodesRhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
. It seems more probable, however, that it was founded in the 5th century BC by Greeks from Massalia (Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
s), perhaps with an admixture of colonists from neighbouring Emporion (today's Empúries
Empúries
Empúries , formerly known by its Spanish name Ampurias , was a town on the Mediterranean coast of the Catalan comarca of Alt Empordà in Catalonia, Spain. It was founded in 575 BC by Greek colonists from Phocaea with the name of Ἐμπόριον...
). Remains of the Greek settlement can still be seen. Remains from the Roman period
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
go back to the 2nd century BC and continue well into Christian times with a paleochristian church and necropolis
Necropolis
A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, literally meaning "city of the dead"...
. After the collapse of Roman power the town seems to have been abandoned, but a fortified settlement from the Visigothic period has been excavated on the nearby Puig Rom.
The monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
of Santa Maria de Roses is mentioned for the first time in a document of the year 944. Around this monastery grew the mediaeval town of Roses, which fell under the shared jurisdiction of the abbots of Santa Maria de Roses and the counts of Empúries
County of Empúries
The County of Empúries was a medieval county centred on the town of Empúries and enclosing the Catalan region of Peralada. It corresponds to the historic comarca of Empordà....
. In 1402 the county of Empúries was incorporated in the Crown of Aragon
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...
and Roses acquired the right to organize its own municipal governmentand the economy
Fortification
In the first decades of the 16th century Roses suffered repeatedly from attacks by privateerPrivateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
s from North Africa. To counter this threat, Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
ordered the construction of extensive fortifications in 1543. In spite of these precautions, a naval squadron led by the Turkish admiral Barbarossa attacked and plundered the town some months later. After substantial revisions, the fortifications were completed in 1553, under Charles's son Philip II
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
. The entire medieval town was now enclosed by a bastioned pentagonal wall (illustration, below). The defensive system was supplemented by the Castell de la Trinitat, some 2.5 km to the east. The town received a permanent military garrison, which changed its character profoundly. To minimise friction between the citizenry and the soldiers, barracks were constructed, but this did not prevent a gradual movement of part of the population outside the walls, where the modern town of Roses now is.
In the following centuries the fortifications were severely tested. In 1645, during the Catalan Revolt, French troops besieged Roses and captured it. The Treaty of the Pyrenees
Treaty of the Pyrenees
The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed to end the 1635 to 1659 war between France and Spain, a war that was initially a part of the wider Thirty Years' War. It was signed on Pheasant Island, a river island on the border between the two countries...
(1659) restored the town to Spain.
In 1693, during the War of the Grand Alliance
War of the Grand Alliance
The Nine Years' War – often called the War of the Grand Alliance, the War of the Palatine Succession, or the War of the League of Augsburg – was a major war of the late 17th century fought between King Louis XIV of France, and a European-wide coalition, the Grand Alliance, led by the Anglo-Dutch...
the French captured the town again. This time the French occupation lasted until the Peace of Ryswick
Treaty of Ryswick
The Treaty of Ryswick or Ryswyck was signed on 20 September 1697 and named after Ryswick in the Dutch Republic. The treaty settled the Nine Years' War, which pitted France against the Grand Alliance of England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the United Provinces.Negotiations started in May...
in 1697. In 1712, during the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
, Austrian troops tried to take the city, but were driven off. In 1719, during the War of the Quadruple Alliance
War of the Quadruple Alliance
The War of the Quadruple Alliance was a result of the ambitions of King Philip V of Spain, his wife, Elisabeth Farnese, and his chief minister Giulio Alberoni to retake territories in Italy and to claim the French throne. It saw the defeat of Spain by an alliance of Britain, France, Austria , and...
, the French again attacked, and but failed to take Roses.
After a long period of relative calm the Wars of the French Revolution ushered in a new round of hostilities. In 1793 the French revolutionary government declared war on Spain. At first, the Spanish armies won a foothold in France, but in 1794 the revolutionary armies invaded Catalonia. The Siege of Roses
Siege of Roses (1794-1795)
The Siege of Roses began on 28 November 1794 and lasted until 4 February 1795 when the Spanish garrison evacuated the port and the forces of the First French Republic took control. Dominique Pérignon commanded the French army and Domingo Izquierdo led the Spanish defenders...
lasted from 28 November 1794 until 3 February 1795, when the garrison was safely evacuated by a Spanish naval squadron, except for 300 unlucky soldiers. The town was surrendered to France, but the war between France and Spain ended at the Peace of Basle signed in July 1795. The city quickly returned to Spanish control.
In 1808, Emperor Napoleon I of France
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
forced King Charles IV of Spain
Charles IV of Spain
Charles IV was King of Spain from 14 December 1788 until his abdication on 19 March 1808.-Early life:...
and his son Ferdinand to abdicate and installed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily , and later King of Spain...
on the throne. When the Spanish people revolted against this high-handed behavior, French armies invaded the country again in the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
. Roses was besieged for the fourth and last time. During this siege, the famed Scottish captain of the Royal Navy Thomas Cochrane
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, 1st Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM , styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a senior British naval flag officer and radical politician....
assisted the Spanish by putting his men into Castell de la Trinitat to help defend the town. The Scot stayed until the citadel and the town surrendered, before finally evacuating himself and his men. In 1814, when the defeated French withdrew from Spain, they blew up the town's fortifications along with the Castell de la Trinitat. At this time, the ancient town, called the Ciutadella, was completely ruined. Meanwhile, to the east the modern town slowly continued to grow.
Contemporary age
In 1879 Roses suffered a devastating economic crisis through phylloxeraPhylloxera
Grape phylloxera ; originally described in France as Phylloxera vastatrix; equated to the previously described Daktulosphaira vitifoliae, Phylloxera vitifoliae; commonly just called phylloxera is a pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America...
, a pest of the grapevines, which destroyed the town's wine growing industry. Part of the population moved to Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
or emigrated to the United States.
In the 20th century, notably in the period after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Roses has profited enormously from the growth of tourism.
Over the last decades important excavations have been carried out inside the walls of the Ciutadella. This concerns not only the Greek and Roman remains, but also part of the medieval city and its walls. In the 1990s extensive restoration work was carried out on the walls of the Ciutadella, and in 2004 a museum was opened inside it. A somewhat controversial restoration of the Castell de Trinitat was formally completed in 2010.
Since 1961, Roses has been the home of El Bulli
El Bulli
elBulli was a Michelin 3-star restaurant near the town of Roses, Catalonia, Spain, run by chef Ferran Adrià. The small restaurant overlooked Cala Montjoi, a bay on Catalonia's Costa Brava, and has been described as "the most imaginative generator of haute cuisine on the planet" and does a great...
, one of the world's best and most famous restaurants.
El Bulli closed in July 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/30/el-bulli-closes-ferran-adria http://www.elbulli.com
External links
- Official website
- Information - Generalitat de Catalunya
- Statistical information - Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya
- Interactive Guide - Map of Roses
- Museum of the Ciutadella