El Telègraf (Torre Fossada) is a square tower standing over the Llobregat river pass in Castellbisbal, Vallès Occidental. The construction dates to the mid-19th century and the tower served as number 4 on the military optical telegraph line from Barcelona to Lleida, communicating directly with towers at Molins de Rei and Esparreguera. The tower stands approximately 5 metres wide and 7 metres tall, featuring a sloping base, two floors, and a surrounding moat.
The moat was built with the same characteristics as the tower - including cobbles and irregular stones - and featured a platform for a drawbridge that once protected the tower's door and window. On January 24, 1939, the tower became one of the last points of resistance for Republican troops against the army.
Restoration efforts for the tower began in the mid-1990s. An archaeological intervention at the end of 2002 aimed to empty and document the moat, during which no structures older than the telegraph tower were found. A new intervention in March 2005 completed the documentation of the tower and its defensive system.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nik Frost
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