1-MARINA BATTERY
Bilbao’s main defences were located where the City Hall is found today, built over the ruins of San Agustín Convent. These were the Marina Battery and the wooden San Agustín Blockhouse.
During the First Carlist War, in the Siege of Bilbao begun in November 1836, Carlist soldiers captured the convent, causing many civilian deaths. It was recaptured in December of the same year, thereby becoming a symbol of the town’s endurance.
The convent once again played a major role in 1874, during the last siege suffered by the town. The government army installed its batteries there, thus joining those in the rest of Bilbao. These were superior to those of the Carlists, because the latter mainly used mortars.
The Brigadiera Battery stood out among them, located on the escarpments of the Left Bank, above Urbitarte Island, facing the Carlist positions located on the lower slopes of Artxanda: Casa Monte, Pichón, Quintana and Cadena Vieja.
San Agustín Blockhouse and Brigadiera Battery