Angel of Victory (Valdepeñas)
The Angel of Victory and Peace (Spanish: Ángel de la Victoria y de la Paz) or Angel of Victory, also referred to by some as Ángel del Fascismo ("Angel of Fascism"),[1] is a ruined monument in Valdepeñas, Spain. It was a Francoist memorial designed by Juan de Ávalos that consisted of a colossal statue of an angel holding a sword. The monument was made of a reinforced stone sided by two poles. It was partially destroyed in 1976.[2]
Ángel de la Victoria y de la Paz | |
| 38°47′34″N 3°23′16″W / 38.792892°N 3.387692°W | |
| Location | Cerro de las Aguzaderas, Valdepeñas, Spain |
|---|---|
| Designer | Juan de Ávalos |
| Material | Stone, metal |
| Height | 25 m (stone bundles) 15 m (statue) |
| Opening date | 1964 |
| Dedicated to | Those who fell fighting for the Rebel faction in the Spanish Civil War |
| Dismantled date | Largely destroyed on 18 July 1976 |
History and description edit
The Provincial Deputation of Ciudad Real commissioned the project to build the monument and awarded it to Juan de Ávalos.[3] The site chosen for the erection of the monument is located two kilometres away from the city of Valdepeñas[4] in the province of Ciudad Real. It stands at the top of a hill, the Cerro de las Aguzaderas, visible from the Manchegan plain and the Madrid–Cádiz national road (currently superseded by the A-4 highway).[5]
Unveiled in 1964,[1] the sculpture consisted of a 15-metre high angel holding a blade-like cross sided by two 25-metre high stone stakes.[5] The plaque reads "la provincia de ciudad real, como homenaje de gratitud en recuerdo de sus mártires. 1936-1964" ("the province of Ciudad Real, as a tribute of gratitude in memory of its martyrs. 1936–1964").[5] It served as memorial to the Rebel (Francoist) faction in the Spanish Civil War.[6]
In the early morning of 18 July 1976, during a series of attacks carried out by GRAPO around Spain, an explosive device was detonated in the monument.[6] The responsibility for the attack was claimed by the aforementioned group.[7] The stone pieces of the angel were destroyed with only the inner metal framework remaining.[1] Pieces of the monument were recovered about 300 metres away from the site.[4] Following the attack, far-right Fuerza Nueva organized an event of "redress" in Valdepeñas, in which Blas Piñar intervened and the Cara al Sol was sung.[4] The monument resulted in a semi ruinous and somewhat "ghostly" condition,[7] with the angel being turned into metal clutter, although the two stone bundles remain. The original plaque was also removed.[8]
References edit
- Citations
- ^ a b c Torrús 2015.
- ^ "Viajes a ninguna parte: El Ángel de la Muerte de Valdepeñas | Noudiari.es". www.noudiari.es. 28 July 2013. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ^ Almarcha Núñez-Herrador & Villena Espinosa 2017, p. 174.
- ^ a b c "Apuntes para la historia de un semestre". Veinte mil kilómetros cuadrados. Ciudad Real: Diputación Provincial de Ciudad Real: 109–110. October 1976.
- ^ a b c Barreda Fontes 2017, p. 174.
- ^ a b Ruiz Panadero 2019.
- ^ a b Almarcha Núñez-Herrador & Villena Espinosa 2017, p. 285.
- ^ Almarcha Núñez-Herrador & Villena Espinosa 2019, p. 201.
- Bibliography
- Almarcha Núñez-Herrador, Esther; Villena Espinosa, Rafael (2017). "La impresión de lo moderno: los volúmenes provinciales de los xxv años de paz". In Castro, Asunción; Díaz, Julián (eds.). XXV años de pazdsdsdsd franquista. Sociedad y cultura en España hacia 1964. pp. 271–305. ISBN 978-84-7737-530-2.
- Almarcha Núñez-Herrador, Esther; Villena Espinosa, Rafael (2019). "Las tarjetas postales como registro de la memoria histórica". La Tadeo Dearte. Bogotá: Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano. 5 (5): 178–203. doi:10.21789/24223158.1563.
- Barreda Fontes, José María (2017). "25 años sin piedad ni perdón. Ciudad Real". In Castro, Asunción; Díaz, Julián (eds.). XXV años de paz franquista. Sociedad y cultura en España hacia 1964. pp. 161–176. ISBN 978-84-7737-530-2.
- Ruiz Panadero, Diego (August 2019). "Paz y libertad: resistencia pacífica democrática en ciudad real durante la Transición" (PDF). Universidad de Granada.
- Torrús, Alejandro (18 January 2015). "Guía turística por la España de Franco en el año 2015". Público.