The fortress of Real Fuerte de la Concepción (English: Royal Fortress of the Conception) is a star fortress built in the Vaubanesque style. It is located west of the village of Aldea del Obispo in the province of Salamanca, western Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. The fortress was constructed there because of its position of great strategic significance due to its proximity to the border between Spain and Portugal which lies to the west of the fortress. The Fortress of the Concepcion is also opposite the Portuguese castle fortress of Almeida which lies west-north-west of the fortress. In 2006, the derelict fortress was sold privately and the site was renovated into a luxury hotel which opened in 2012.
History
In 1640, following the death of Philip II, the conflict known as the Portuguese Restoration War began. The new Spanish King, Philip III of Spain, intended to make Portugal a Spanish province, and Portuguese nobles stood to lose all of their power. As a consequence the Portuguese restored their independence from Spain. On the 1 December 1640, following a military coup the Duke of Braganza was proclaimed king of Portugal and became John IV. The Spanish King began to make plans to recover the throne of Portugal and part of these plans was the strengthening of fortifications along the border along with the construction of new fortresses along the border of the two countries. The area of the border between the River Côa and the River Águeda became a buffer zone between the two kingdoms. The Fortress of the Concepcion was one of the new fortresses constructed by order of the Duke of Osuna, commander of the Spanish Army and was located in this area to serve as a military station for the Spanish army to recover Portugal.
Construction
The construction of the fortress was under the control of the French military engineer Simon Jocquet and work began on the 8 December 1663, the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception, hence the name given to the new fortress. The first phase of construction was completed on the 20th of January 1664 taking just 40 days. This first phase saw construction around a large central courtyard with Pentagon bastions in each corner, reinforced by earthworks around the perimeter, bundles of brushwood fascine's and filled baskets of wicker woven around stakes in circles, to form Redoubts. The fort was garrisoned by 1,500 infantrymen and 200 cavalrymen.
1664 De-commissioning
On the 7th of July 1664 the Spanish and Portuguese forces clashed at the Battle of Castelo Rodrigo. Following the initial success of the Spanish army, the Portuguese sent a reinforcement of 3,000 men under the leadership of Viscount of Fonte Arcada. The Portuguese counter-attack proved decisive. Many prisoners were taken and all the artillery pieces captured. It is told that Osuna and John of Austria the Younger, escaped from Castelo Rodrigo disguised as monks. Following Osuna's fall from grace Philip III of Spain took over control of the army and ordered the partial demolition of Fort Concepcion, which had been operational for less than a year. What remained was still occasionally used as a base for Spanish troops in the border area.
1735 Re-construction
In 1668 the Spanish officially recognised the independence of the Portuguese kingdom but the border zone was regarded with suspicion by both countries. The following decades saw the Portuguese improving the fortified strongholds at Olivenza then part of Portugal, Elvas, Valença do Minho and Almeida and in reaction to these border fortification enhancements, the Spanish instigated works on a line of fortifications on their side of the border. Following the establishment of the Bourbon dynasty with the reign of Philip V, the First Ministers José Patiño ordered the re-construction and enhancement of Fort Concepcion. The works on the new structure were built using much of the previous fortress's footprint. In charge of the construction was the military engineer Pedro Moreau in collaboration with the architect and sculptor Manuel Lara Churriguera. Work began in May, 1736. Moreau's work was taken over by Antonio de Gaver and Juan Giraldo de Chaves on several occasions when he was called away to work on the fortifications at Oran in Algeria, and Cádiz. The Fortress was completed in 1758, just before war erupted once more in 1762 between the Spanish and British. During this War the Spanish invaded Portugal, using Concepcion as Cantonment, but the area around the fortress remained quiet and, when hostilities ended in 1763, not a shot had been fired in anger, from or towards the fortress.
