Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos was confined to the Castle of Bellver seven years where he wrote, among many other historical-artistic-artistic Memory Memories.
Sometimes, when I return from my solitary walks, seeing how the castle cuts across the horizon at dusk, I think I see a castle that is bewitched, shooting up from the bowels of the earth, just like the ones that Ariosto’s fervid imagination blasted out of the mountains to act as a prison for some poor unfortunate knight. Struck by this illusion, I almost expect to hear the sound of a horn from the top of its towers or to see a giant peering out, keeping watch over the bridge as another knight appears with his necromancer to remove the spell from that ill-fated fellow. The oddest thing is that this illusion is slightly plausible, since, irrespective of other similarities, the castle has indeed come out of the bowels of the hill where it stands.
Historical and Artistic Accounts of Architecture (1805-1808)
Translated by Rachel Waters.
(Gijón, 1744 – Puerto Vega, 1811). Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos was an Asturian statesman and writer. From the early days of his career, he held office in court, political and institutional circles. He wrote numerous speeches, inter-combined with descriptions of monuments, work relating to educational reforms, and other reforms undertaken through reports of a political nature. He cultivated different literary genres (like poetry and plays), although he mainly wrote essays on economics, politics, agriculture, philosophy and customs, all with the spirit of renewal of an enlightened despotic mentality. Mention must be made of his Informe sobre la ley agraria (Report on Agrarian Law), Memoria sobre espectáculos y diversions públicas (Report on Public Spectacles and Entertainment), and Cartas del viaje de Asturias (Letters from Travels in Asturias), among others. In them, he extolled the importance of reason as opposed to beliefs, he criticized the politics of the time, and put forward ideas to promote trade and industry.
In 1798, he was ousted from office as Minister of Justice by Godoy. In 1801, his place of exile in Cadiz was exchanged for an even more remote one in Mallorca. After a period of reclusion at Valldemossa Monastery, in 1802 he was imprisoned in Bellver Castle. His work Memorias histórico-artísticas de arquitectura (Historical & Artistic Accounts of Architecture) was written between 1806 and 1808. Its descriptions and testimonials are a fine example of enlightened thinking, while also offering a meticulous analysis of historical buildings like Bellver Castle, Mallorca Cathedral, Palma’s Llotja guildhall and Sant Francesc and Sant Domingo Monasteries.
Bellver Castle’s construction was commissioned by King James II of Mallorca in about 1300. The castle crowns a hill close to the city. Itstands out for its round design, with two storeys set around a central courtyard, each distinguished by thediffering architecture of their archways. Rounding off the castle are four towers, three built onto the wall, plus the tower of the keep. In the 18th century, the castle was used as a political and military jail. Now, as well as being a historical monument, it also houses the City History Museum, together with Cardinal Despuig’s collection of classical sculptures.
