It was an institution of great prestige, though not very popular. We are talking about the Academy of Mathematics of Barcelona, the school where for almost a century military engineers were trained, created in 1720 after the end of the War of Succession with the fall of the Catalan capital in 1714 to the troops of Philip V. Since 2016, an exhibition titled Engineers, Soldiers and Sages commemorates it at the military government headquarters.
The Academy of Mathematics was a milestone, not only in the design of fortresses like the Ciutadella, which was erected in the space now occupied by the park of the same name, and Montjuïc Castle, but because military engineers also participated in the construction of public works and in the urban planning of cities and neighborhoods. This is the case of Barceloneta, conceived with a layout of perpendicular streets and numbered islands in the military style.
The school, despite its aforementioned great prestige, never enjoyed great popularity, as it had been created by the victors of the war and a good part of its work was to build military complexes whose objective was not always defense against external aggressions, but also internal repression. The academy was established in 1720 in a building in the Ciutadella, but in 1752 it moved to Sant Agustí Vell, an old convent that was severely damaged in the battles of 1714 and was rebuilt to house the school.
Today, of the old convent of Sant Agustí, only the remains of the cloister and little else remain. The academy of engineers remained in the old convent until 1803, when it was dissolved with the creation of the Military Academy of Zamora and the Academy of Engineers of Alcalá de Henares, where the studies that until then were pursued in Barcelona were transferred.
At the Academy of Mathematics, cutting-edge training was provided, under a model inspired by the military engineering school of Brussels. Its promoter was Próspero de Verboom, Philip V's reference engineer, architect of the construction of the Ciutadella after the destruction of almost the entire Ribera neighborhood, severely damaged by the fighting. The new Bourbon authorities demolished the houses that remained standing to make room for the fortress and a large esplanade that served as a security zone. To rehouse the fishermen, Barceloneta was built on land reclaimed from the sea.
The Ciutadella included the latest advances in fortification design. Today, only the chapel, which is still a military parish, remains standing; the governor's residence, converted into the IES Verdaguer, and the old arsenal, currently the seat of the Parlament. In this building, it is still possible to contemplate its distribution into rooms with windows and separated by walls more than a meter thick, whose function was to prevent the ammunition stored there from exploding by sympathy in case of an accident.
The academy's students, among whom were some civilians, received comprehensive training. Among the subjects were arithmetic, geometry, algebra, trigonometry, physics, mechanics, hydraulics, military and civil architecture, artillery, optics, astronomy, geography, and nautical. The level of demand was such that it was not enough to pass the courses; at the end of their studies, candidates had to undergo a selection exam that only 10 out of 60 passed.
After the academy left, the building continued to have military use and served as a recruitment center until the end of compulsory military service. Today, it houses, among others, a civic center and a chocolate museum. In addition, on the facade of Comerç street, there are some unusual Masonic symbols, a compass and a square intertwined, which are the best known of this secret society. Although both objects are common tools for engineers, arranged in the Masonic way they would show their relationship. It is not ruled out, even, that there was a military lodge in the academy whose trace has been lost, among other things because during the Franco years an attempt was made to erase all symbology related to a society that was harshly repressed. However, the squares and compasses of Comerç street mysteriously managed to survive.
The Military Government exhibition meticulously reviews the work of the Academy of Mathematics and, by extension, that of military engineering. It has not been a widely publicized exhibition, only through some banners on the building's facade. Even so, and taking into account the harsh restrictions during two years of pandemic, it has received more than 144,000 visitors to date. It can still be seen from Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. It is worth it.