Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
Teruel Civil War shelters & old town (Plaza del Torico)
Air-raid shelter
The story
Teruel was at the heart of the war's harshest battle. On 15 December 1937 the Republican Army of the Levante under Hernández Saravia, with Líster's and El Campesino's divisions, encircled the city, and by 21 December they were inside it. Colonel Domingo Rey d'Harcourt's garrison held out in the Civil Government building, the Bank of Spain, the Santa Clara convent and the Seminary. Many civilians sheltered with them. Rey d'Harcourt surrendered on 8 January 1938. The battle was fought in blizzards, with temperatures down to about −18°C. Franco's counter-offensive under Aranda and Varela retook the ruined city on 22 February 1938. Both sides together lost more than 100,000 men killed, wounded, sick or captured.
What you can see today
Underground air-raid shelters from the war lie beneath the old-town centre. Rebuilt buildings around the Plaza del Torico stand on the ground where the siege was fought street by street.
Plan your visit
The shelters can usually be visited on guided tours run by the city. Check times and tickets at Teruel's tourist office before you go. The old town is easily covered on foot.
Sources
Nearby sites
- Las Viñas bunker (Teruel) · 1 km
- Mansueto fort (Valdecebro) · 4 km
- Muela de Villaspesa · 5 km
- El Muletón (Tortajada) · 5 km
- Pozos de Caudé memorial (Concud) · 6 km
- Alto de la Torana bunker (Corbalán) · 8 km
All 158 sites in Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 →
The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The battlefields, trenches, ruined villages, shelters, museums and memorials of the Spanish Civil War across the whole of Spain, told fairly from both sides.
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