Belchite, a remnant of the Spanish Civil War
Belchite, a remnant of the Spanish Civil War

Belchite, a remnant of the Spanish Civil War

Belchite, a remnant of the Spanish Civil War

Visit of ruins

Belchite, Spain

We are in September 1937 in the small village of Belchite located about 50 kilometers from Zaragoza. The Spanish Civil War has been raging for a year already and thousands of Spaniards died. By the end of the conflict in April 1939, they will be more than 500,000 deads.

While the village is the site of many battles between nationalists and republicans, Belchite will be conquered and reconquered throughout the Spanish Civil War. On April 1, 1939 while the noise of the bombs stopped, the village is completely destroyed, a victim of the madness of soldiers.

The new dictator, Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde, or simply Franco decided to leave the ruins untouched and rebuild the village few meters away. His goal? Give his people a live monument of the civil war. The latter is also used symbolically this place as irrefutable proof that the Republicans was the cause of this horror.

Today, the site is open to the public and guided tours are possible. The area have also been the scene of shooting various films, such as The Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Terry Gilliam (Brazil, The Fisher King, etc.) and Pan's Labyrinth directed by Guillermo del Toro .

Related content

The old abandoned convent
Eastern townships, Quebec (Canada)

Well hidden behind a church and large mature trees, the old convent was abandoned for some years. In a resplendent form, it doesn't look abandoned, except for the thousand dead flies on the floor who confirm that clean up hasn't been made for a...

The old Jersey house
Gaspésie, Quebec (Canada)

The history of this house is intimately linked to the original owners who came from the island of Jersey, part of the Anglo-Norman Isles. From a wave of immigrants from the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey, they will be hundreds of families...

The abandoned fisherman's house
Prince-Edouard-Island, Prince Edward Island (Canada)

It was supposed to be a quiet family trip. Destination: the province of Prince Edward Island and the Madeleine islands, a small archipelago consisting of a half-dozen of islands interconnected by bridges and roads. For readers outside of Canada,...

The Fonte da Pipa palace
Loulé, (Portugal)

Known for its carnival and market of great beauty, Loulé is a city of 70,000 inhabitants located in the south of Portugal, in the Algarve region.

It is built between 1878 and 1897 the small castle of Pipa palace which will never be...