Hidden Beneath Barcelona’s Streets: Workers Unearth a Mysterious 33-Foot Medieval Shipwreck During Garage Construction
But how did the Ciutadella I end up 18 feet beneath the ground?
The Changing Shape Of Barcelona In Recent Centuries
Barcelona City Council Archaeology ServiceArchaeologists working on the Ciutadella I.
As the Barcelona Archaeology Service reports, the discovery of the Ciutadella I illustrates just how much Barcelona has changed over the centuries. After artificial piers were constructed in the city in 1439, and a centuries-old sandbar vanished, the coastline changed dramatically. Coastal drift and storms caused the beach to advance and pushed sand into places that were once covered with water.
The ship, possibly sunk or abandoned, was then submerged. Such an occurrence is rare, and the Ciutadella I is only the second example of a seagoing vessel found in Barcelona. In 2008, a 15th-century ship named the Barceloneta I was found during excavations near the Estació de França train station.
“The discovery of ‘Ciutadella I’ complements and enriches the knowledge obtained with ‘Barceloneta I,’” said the Barcelona City Council Archaeology Service, “offering a more complete vision of the diversity and complexity of medieval maritime activity in Barcelona, and consolidating the city as a key point of the trade routes of the time.”
Elsewhere across Europe in recent years, centuries-old ships have likewise been found buried just beneath the ground. In 2020, three Roman warships were found stuck in clay in Serbia. And in 2022, archaeologists came across a medieval cargo ship in Tallinn, Estonia.
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