Whitehall Boats For Salew

BIG VICTORY.



Throughout his life, Grande Victoria Strong lived heroic moments as when he became the main stronghold of Melilla during the siege of 1774 -1775 and moments that marked a turning point in the history of Melilla as the June 14, 1862 when from a gunboat in the south battery fire cannon "The Wanderer" projectile which marked the current borders of Melilla. (On this topic I see the blog of the Association for the Study of Melilla: http://estudiosmelillenses.blogspot.com/2010/05/precisando-el-punto-cero-de-melilla-la.html )

(Great Victoria main facade in 2001.)

Alongside these glorious events, Grand Victoria also has a dark and terrible past to become instead of imprisonment of fighters for freedom and democracy in Spain.

With the return to power of Fernando VII after the War of Independence, repealing the 1812 Constitution and liberal deputies and persons are prosecuted and jailed. Many end up in exile in Melilla, where the most famous, but not the only ones who were imprisoned here, José de Calatrava, MP and future prime minister, Francisco Sánchez bib, editor of the newspaper "The Citizen" and Manuel Pérez Sobrino editor of the newspaper The Concise ". They arrived in Melilla on January 4, 1816 and its first property was at Fort Victoria Grande. They occupied a room known as the Main Guard official formerly a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Victory. Sobrino Pérez went on to write some verses dedicated to the fort. The Liberals held were released in 1820 after the triumph of the pronouncement of General Rafael de Riego. Sanchez Barbero could not enjoy this freedom because he had died of illness in October 1819.

(same decision today. We can see the deterioration of the strong emphasis the disappearance of the booth in the corner overlooking the sea).

With the advent of the twentieth century Great Victoria goes on to become the Melilla city jail until after the occupation of the city by Franco, is used to confine it to men and women who opposed the uprising or noted for their progressive and leftist militants. On the sufferings of these people within the walls of Victoria Grande have the literary testimony of the writer Charlotte O'Neill and Jaime Fernandez Gil de Terradillos, Government Delegate in our city by Franco's uprising occur. Fernández Gil Great Victoria was imprisoned in a few months but after a bizarre vicissitudes was reached in early 1937, government-controlled territory. Fernandez presented a report on what happened in Melilla for which we also know the time in prison for some prominent Republicans Melilla and their tragic fate. Based on its official report, Fernandez wrote a series of articles published in spring 1937 in the Madrid edition of ABC.

(Victoria Gate Grande).

Antonio Fernández Díez Gil writes, Aurelio Solis and Carmen Gómez Galindo, held in Victoria Grande and were taken away by a group of Franco to murder. Aurelio Solis was a physician, Mason and Councillor of the Republican Left. Grande was taken from Victoria on the evening of July 26, after the bombing of the city by ships loyal and killed. The next night it was the turn to Antonio Díez. Diez was a founding member of the PSOE and the UGT of our city, organizations became president. He was mayor of Melilla in 1931 and 1936. Carmen Gómez Galindo was a young leftist 19-year-old on the night of August 14, 1936 his life was cut short when Franco the Great Victoria took to kill him.

(walls and moat. At the end Girl Victoria covering his left flank. From a gunship located in this stretch of wall cannon fire "Traveler").


Other people who were Grande was held in Victoria: the sisters Montoya, of the Unified Socialist Youth, Obdulia Guerrero, national and republican teacher, the investigating judge at Melilla Polonio Joaquín Calvo and Isabel Martinez, wife of Diego Jaén Socialist leader, among many others.

(The background is the strongest of the Rosary that covered his right flank. Close the window booth was located in San Antonio, outpost of Fort Victoria Large).

These days it has seen the proposal of MVA, an organization of university students to convert Melilla Strong complex Grande and Girl Victoria in a community center for artistic activities, this exciting initiative called "Project Young Victoria." This project can be a good solution to restore these buildings giving the city a social utility. But take out the initiative said it would be interesting, and justice, to dedicate a space to place the resulting complex of some kind of memorial in tribute to all those who suffered Grande prison in Victoria to defend freedom and democracy, especially if we consider that some of them and they were so young and full of life as the supporters of this proposal for the recovery of the strong.