Citadel of Roses

The first thing that greets anyone approaching the Citadel of Roses is an imposing walled perimeter, the very one that for centuries protected the town at the north-eastern tip of the Spanish coast, overlooking the gulf that bears its name. What can be seen from the outside today is the result of the refortification ordered by Charles I in 1543, after he had visited the town in person, with a very specific aim: to defend it from pirate raids and French threats.

But the history of the site is far older than these walls. This was the home of Rhode, a Greek colony whose origins are still shrouded in questions. Literary sources date its founding as far back as the 8th century BC, whereas archaeology links it to neighbouring Emporion, present-day Empúries, and places it no earlier than the 5th century BC. The two colonies also shared the cult of Artemis, a bond that reinforces this closeness.

The name calls to mind the island of Rhodes, and it is no coincidence that many have made the connection, although that link has never been proven, nor has the idea that its founders were Rhodians. There is, however, a suggestive clue: the drachmas minted in Rhode around 400 BC, bearing the inscription ΡΟΔΗΤΩΝ, resemble neither those of Emporion nor those of Massalia, ancient Marseille, but instead follow the style of the coins of Rhodes.

Exploring the Citadel is, then, a way of reading two layers of the past at once: that of the Renaissance fortification in the service of the Crown, and that of the Greek settlement that opened this coast up to the Mediterranean. Declared a Site of Cultural Interest in 1961, it deserves an unhurried visit from anyone wishing to understand how Roses was born and how it was defended.