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The history of the current Barcelona neighborhood of Fort Pienc, located at the end of the Eixample, begins with the events of 1714, when Philip V, after building the military fortress of the Citadel in 1715, ordered the construction of the forts of Fort Pius (or Fort Pienc) and Fort de Don Carlos to protect the Citadel and not only be able to better control the city, but also possible external attacks.
Francisco Pío de Saboya was the son of Gisberto Pío de Saboya, Prince Pío y de San Gregorio, and Joana de Moura Corte-Real, fifth Marchioness of Castelrodrigo and third Duchess of Nocera. Pius of Savoy was appointed governor and captain general of Catalonia in May 1715 during the period of 1715 and 1722.
During the time he held the captaincy general of Catalonia, he harshly repressed all movements of Austrian sympathizers.
The Fort Pius fort, whose name was an allegory to the name of Pius of Savoy, was built on the remains of a convent of Minimian friars that was located next to the old Ribes road, about 750 meters from the entrance through the wall to the city through the Portal Nou. His name is commemorated on a plaque at the IES Fort Pius public institute and the CEIP Fort Pienc.
It had been built as an advanced position to protect Barcelona from enemy attacks, dominating a large part of the city’s plain.
The star-shaped outer enclosure, with five bastions protected by a moat and a very wide esplanade, had a rectangular construction measuring 165 feet by 144, which if we transform the feet into meters, would give us approximate measurements of 50.92 by 43 .89 meters. The enclosure was made up of a prison, a chapel dedicated to the Purísima and a permanent garrison of soldiers. And it had a foundry and a covered Ronda road.
The door was protected by a wall of loopholes. The fort, in its parapets, contained 22 embrasures and under the embankment 14 loopholes, but however it lacked a protected path that connected it with the Citadel complex, something that the fort of Don Carlos de la Barceloneta did have.
This was a great handicap for the fort of Fort Pienc, given the distance between the Citadel and the fort of Don Carlos. This left the fort continually exposed to be conquered by the enemy in the event of a possible surprise attack, as it could not rely on the artillery of both enclosures.
This situation was observed by the military officers who controlled the Citadel, who decreed its immediate destruction in 1760.
But, as always between orders and actions, a reasonable amount of time is needed to carry them out, in this case it was no exception and its demolition took place a century later.
After the War of Independence ended, the fort lost prominence and it was not until 1823 that it became topical again due to the problems that Fernando VII had with the liberal forces, which had limited its powers in accordance with the Constitution of Cádiz approved on the 19th. March 1812, known as La Pepa. In it it was approved that the sovereignty of the nation did not belong to the king, but rather to the people.
In 1823, Ferdinand VII asked for help from his cousin Louis XVIII of France, who sent him an army of almost 100,000 soldiers known as the Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis, led by the Duke of Angoulême, who occupied Fort Pienc.
It was the last service carried out by the military fortress. In October 1868, when the military fortifications became dependent on the local administration, it was demolished.
This had a great relief for the coffers of the city council, which used the stones to build the primitive church of San Martín del Clot, built in the Plaza del Canónigo Redondo.
Very close to the disappeared Fort Pienc, the primitive Northern railway station was built in 1861, belonging to the line between Barcelona and Zaragoza, on the old lands of Els horts de Sant Pere, which had been considered military lands because they were located between what had been Fort Pienc and the construction of the Ciutadella.
Currently, the Fort Pienc neighborhood runs along a perimeter that covers parts of Diagonal Avenue (from Nápoles Street to Plaza de las Glorias), Meridiana Avenue, Almogávares Street, Roger de Flor Street, Vilanova Avenue, Paseo de San Juan, Gran Vía and Calle de Nápoles to Diagonal.