Ciutat Vella

This realist monument stands in surprising contrast to the predominant Gothic style of the surrounding buildings. It portrays five martyrs who were executed following an attempted uprising against the French troops during the occupation of Barcelona in 1808..

The dictatorship of Primo de Rivera culminated with the dedication of a monument to the heroes of the 1809 uprising. The year was 1929 and Josep Llimona was commissioned to create the five bronze elements that surmount the plinth. The sculptures are marked by a realism that is devoid of dramatism and show the people who had been condemned to the garrotte, shortly before their execution at the Citadel. They were accused of attempting to free Barcelona from the French forces of occupation who had made the city their stronghold during the War of the Spanish Succession. The plaque on the plinth bears the name of the insurgents. An alabaster relief was added to the monument in 1941, when it was rededicated following the Spanish Civil War. It depicts a series of angels and was sculpted by Vicenç Navarro. The monument is enclosed by ceramic benches. The tiling, based on an engraving by Bonaventura Planella, portrays the entrance of the Napoleonic troops to the city. A monument located right in front of the cloister where five martyrs are buried, contrasts in style and theme with the predominant Gothic architecture of the area.