Dolores Barracks

Our route continues along the same street, which again changes name and is first called “Taxonera” and then “Avenida Mac Mahon”, to Dolores Barracks.

The Dolores barracks were designed by Joseph Petit de la Croix in 1751 as a magnificent building which could accommodate a sizeable military contingency of 4,000 infantrymen. After a break of 12 years, work was begun in 1765 under Sánchez Bort.

The main entrance is located in the main façade. It was built as a single piece with rear pilasters and is decorated in a Doric style with paired columns. On the first floor above the entrance, an iron balcony protrudes. Directly above this on the second floor, there is a royal coat of arms carved in stone. Note the grandeur of the large square central arcaded courtyard where military ceremonies are still held today. This central courtyard, which has exactly the same measurements as the Armas and Amboage squares, has two large water tanks and is surrounded by an arcade through which the lower, first and second floors are accessed. The central body of the building has a barrel vault ceiling and there is a roof terrace on the second floor.

This is the oldest working barracks in Spain and is the base of the North Regiment of Navy Infantrymen, the oldest in the world.