Spanish Cartagena: Museum of Military History
1. The building of the military museum stories in Cartagena, Spain
But, clothed in armor,
So the Spaniard answered her:
“Oh darling! And in passion
You are beautiful, and in anger.
Driven by duty and love
I'm leaving and I'm staying
My flesh goes into battle
But the soul will abide with you.
Luis de Gongora. “He served the king in Oran ...” Translation by I. Chizhegova
So the Spaniard answered her:
“Oh darling! And in passion
You are beautiful, and in anger.
Driven by duty and love
I'm leaving and I'm staying
My flesh goes into battle
But the soul will abide with you.
Luis de Gongora. “He served the king in Oran ...” Translation by I. Chizhegova
Military museums of Europe. Ah, Spain! I have already visited many countries, but I have never seen such an alloy of the sea, the sun, delicious food and history anywhere: neither in France, nor even in Italy, much less in Poland or Germany. Croatia ... Yes, it's nice to relax. But there is a story there. Cyprus ... There is even a VTB advertisement in Russian standing on the sidelines, as if you had not left anywhere. Not so in Spain. Here the past is mixed with the present, as if in a good cocktail.
While everyone is too scared by the coronavirus to travel to countries and continents, let's get to know the interesting places in Spain virtually. We have already been to many places this way, but we have not examined the hundredth part of what is there. But today we will have a museum. And not just a museum, but a very interesting museum of the military history of the city of Cartagena. But first, a little common history of this, without exaggeration, a unique place.
2. Front door
The city was founded around 228 BC by the brother of the great Hannibal Hasdrubal, the son of Hamilkar Barki. There was already a settlement, but he gave it a new name - Quart Hadast. In 209 BC, the city came under the power of the Romans, who were also commanded by a famous man - the commander Scipio African.
In 555 AD already reached the troops of the Byzantine emperor Justinian, in 621 the city was captured by the Visigoths, and in 734 by the Arabs. Only in 1245, during the Reconquista, did Cartagena become Christian, and during the Habsburgs a Spanish fleet began to be based in its harbor. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), there was the main naval base of the Republicans. The battleship “Jaime I” was blown up here (the explosion of the battleship will be sure to be told later), and it was Cartagena that became the last city to surrender to the troops of dictator Franco. By the way, the Spaniards themselves love this city so much that they founded another Cartagena in America discovered by them, apparently so as not to forget their homeland!
Well, now about the museum itself. It is located in a building that consists of four buildings located in the shape of a rectangle with a large courtyard between them, which is divided in half by another building. Total area - 17302 sq. M. The museum initially housed the Royal Artillery Park, 1786-1802; then the 2nd branch of the artillery weapons workshop, 1802-1867; Headquarters of the coastal defense command and coastal artillery park, 1867-1924; Coastal Artillery Regiment, 1924-1984; anti-aircraft artillery regiment No. 73, 1984-1996 Today, part of the building now belongs to the Municipal Archive of Cartagena, in another in 1997 a museum of military history was opened, which is a branch of the Historical and Military Museum of Seville. Museum halls have an exhibition area of 3520 square meters. m and are located on two floors. The museum’s exposition is rich and diverse, but special attention is paid to artillery weapons. With the help of dioramas, one can consider the fortifications that protected Cartagena from the sea, there is a separate exhibition of large-scale models. Interestingly, the chapel of St. Barbara, the patroness of artillerymen, was preserved in the building. The text in several information panels is given in both Spanish and English. Many special interactive displays. Naturally, all imaginable conveniences are created for people with disabilities.
The exhibits in the museum are guns, uniforms, weapon, which was used by soldiers and officers of the Spanish army, ammunition, as well as armaments of Italy, France, Germany, Russia, etc. In one of the rooms there is a model of Cartagena at the end of the 24th century. The first floor is decorated with XNUMX arches. It is between them that the objects of the exposition are located, primarily artillery pieces. There are halls of ammunition, anti-aircraft artillery, optics and telemetry, an engineering hall and a passage connecting the two courtyards of the museum. The sacristy and chapel with the image of Santa Barbara, the patroness of artillery, which is believed to belong to the brush of the artist Salzillo or his student Roque Lopez, which date back to the XNUMXth century, are very interesting. During Holy Week, meetings of the Brotherhood of San Juan are held here. On the second floor there is a library, an officer gallery and exhibition halls with models of various military equipment.
Well, now let's see the photos. Part of the photo was kindly presented to the author by Paul Lansberg (lpsphoto.us), and some photos were taken from the museum's website.
3. Antique bronze mortar. It was believed that all these curls and coats of arms must be present on the tool, that without it it is "ugly"!
4. However, the same mortars pretty quickly lost all their jewelry. Too much valuable bronze they demanded
5. Cast-iron bombs to mortars of caliber 320 mm. Peter the First demanded from his gunners: “First, to burn the bonbu in the barrel, then to fire behind ...” Well, they were heroic people, as you look at this!
6. Without our "forty-five" no military museum in Spain is simply impossible!
7. As without tank T-26B. This one bears the insignia of the francists. Republicans had one streak of purple
8. Another T-26 is on display in the street. So they were also painted in order to avoid "friendly fire"
9. Coastal 150-mm gun from the forts of Cartagena. The end of the XIX century. It looks like a monster!
10. Its breech and piston lock
11. Also a 152 mm gun, but already by Armstrong
12. And this is his shutter and inscription - 1928
13. The Spaniards had 381-mm coastal guns, but the museum has only separate parts from them, a gurney for transportation, and this shell!
14. A very interesting bronze weapon of the transition period from round cores to elongated shells - caliber 80 mm, model 1886
15. The breech of this gun
16. Another bronze gun of the 1873 model of the Whitworth company. Caliber 75 mm
17. His breech
18. But he had such a six-sided drill hole and, accordingly, the shells themselves. It was convenient to charge from the side of the barrel. And at the same time - a rifled gun!
19. And this is a 150-mm German gun company Rheinmetall period of the Second World War
20. A very powerful field gun of the British, used in both world wars: 127-mm gun company Armstrong BL-60 pounds Mk I
21.M110A7. And to whom only the Americans did not deliver them ...
22. Spanish instrument development company "Schneider" 155-mm "Modelo 1913"
23. 100-mm gun of the same company "Modelo 1913"
24. Spain is a mountainous country, so mountain artillery was popular there. Mountain 105-mm gun "Modelo 1919". Also "Schneider" ...
25. Back view
26. And this is its own mountain cannon of the 1951 model, 75 mm caliber
27. Very powerful Italian anti-aircraft gun M1A3 caliber 90 mm. The Italians put it on self-propelled guns da 90/53 "Zemovente"
28. Well, this is a well-known machine gun of the Bofors company.
29. American anti-aircraft machine gun M45C
30. German SPG Stug IIIG
31. American self-propelled guns M44. In the 50s, self-propelled guns on such a chassis in the USA were very popular.
32. The Spaniards tried to create such equestrian pack weapons too ...
33. The warhead of the rocket “Aspid” with ready-made fragments
34. Spanish Hand Grenades
35. The hall of models. And why not here! Even (look at the window) there is a model of our "Tsar Tank"!
36. Models of Polish and German armored trains
37. The models of our armored trains are good. But, as always, foreigners shamelessly misinterpret Cyrillic inscriptions!
PS In the magazine "Technique and Armament" No. 8 for 1998 there was my big article about Italian armored vehicles. There is also a book: Shpakovsky V.O., Shpakovskaya S. V. Armored vehicles of the Spanish Civil War 1936–1939. Both the article and the book are on the Internet.
PPS The author and administration of the site are deeply grateful to Paul Lansberg (lpsphoto.us) for the photographs provided.
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