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The snowstorm
French soldiers feigned snowball games to take the citadel
On February 16, 1808, French soldiers took advantage of a snowstorm and approached the citadel while feigning snowball games in front of the defenders. Once close, they produced weapons concealed in their clothing and succeeded in entering and occupying it. French troops had been allowed to cross the Iberian Peninsula under the Treaty of Fontainebleau.
The star
Philip II ordered a five-pointed star of bastions in 1571
Philip II ordered the citadel in 1571, to a design by the military engineer Giacomo Palearo, known as el Fratin. It was a five-pointed star-shaped enclosure, so that every angle of attack could be covered from each bastion. The bastions are named San Antón, El Real, Santa María, Santiago, and Victoria. Construction was completed in 1645.
The reason
It was built to dominate a city where rebellion could be expected
The citadel followed the conquest of the Kingdom of Navarre, which had been accompanied by attempts at reconquest with active local participation. Two points of the star faced the interior of the city, to control it. The Venetian ambassador Contarini reported widespread hostility towards Spanish rule.
“...should be understood as a means of dominating a city from which rebellion could be expected”
Alicia Cámara, on the citadel, in her work Muraria
The park
Since 1964 the fort has been a park with cultural uses
In 1964 the citadel ceased to be used for military purposes and became a public park, La Planta de la Ciudadela, with its historic buildings adapted for cultural and civic activities. The ammunition depot of 1694 and the artillery hall of 1725 are among those preserved. A citywide consultation in 1971 favoured keeping the park and the green areas.
The Socorro Gate
At the Socorro Gate, 298 residents were shot in 1936
During the Spanish Civil War, the Nationalist forces carried out numerous executions of members and supporters of the Republican side at the Socorro Gate. A plaque installed in 2007 was replaced in March 2012 by a monolith in the moat near the gate. Its text, in Spanish and Basque, pays tribute to the 298 residents shot in 1936 for defending freedom and social justice.
Day 2, evening
It comes after Museum of Navarre.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Citadel of Pamplona, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.