41. Plans of the Holy Cross Castle in 1850:
O) Main platform;
A) First floor;
B) Second floor.1-Holy Cross Chapel;
2-Northern access stairway to the castle;
3-Dining area;
4-Sentry box (in ruins);
5-Natural rock;
6-Underground accommodation;
7-Sentry box;
8-Main stairway;
9-Kitchen;
10-Corps de garde;
11-Artillery Barracks (first floor);
12-Infantry Barracks (first floor);
13-Lower cistern;
14-Latrines;
15-Banquette;
16-Sentry box;
17-Parapet;
18-Cannon emplacement;
19-Sergeants' quarters;
20-Duty officer's quarters;
21-Governor's quarters;
22-Orderlies;
23-Look-out post;
24-Officers' quarters;
25-Upper cistern;
26-Flagpole;
27-El Macho artillery platform;
28-Offices of the governor's assistants;
29-Kitchen;
30-Dungeon;
31-Stairs from gun platform to dungeon;
32-Natural rock;
33-Artillery barracks (second floor):
34-Infantry barracks (second floor).© Juan Antonio Sáez

The fortification erected on Mount Urgull consisted of a main platform in the shape of an irregular nine-sided polygon, with access through two gates to the north and west and a door, each with its own staircase.

The platform is entirely surrounded by a parapet surmounted by a banquette (or tier from which the defenders could shoot). These each have twenty cannon emplacements. Two of the original three sentry boxes are still extant. The northern parapet contains the small chapel of the Holy Cross.

In the centre of the platform stands the "Macho" (abutment), a mediaeval fortification concealed by various sixteenth and seventeenth century reforms. It contains two vaulted rooms used in the nineteenth century as dungeons. Above these stood the premises of the governor and officers of the castle, together with a semicircular platform for artillery and an aljibe (a cistern for gathering rain water). The top level has since been altered with the addition of chapels and the erection of a monumental statue of Jesus (1950).

On the main platform, adjoining the Macho, there is a two-storey barracks (c. 18) formed by two perpendicular bays of different lengths with a small parade square at the intersection, with the mouth of the underlying cistern.

45. Holy Cross Castle. Rim of the lower cistern.© Gorka Agirre

The other fortifications on Mount Urgull consist of various buildings, walls (by Villaturiel and Spanocchi) and batteries along the sides, built at different times and armed, disarmed, abandoned or rehabilitated depending on the military needs of the time.

A number of batteries were erected at the base of the castle. These were the Prince's (or Governor's) Battery, The Queen's (or St. James') Battery, and Napoleon's Battery. The south-western platform, the magazine and St. James' Barracks (now in ruins) were also erected here. There are other constructions on lower levels: the batteries of the Upper and Lower St. Claire's Watchtower, The Ladies, St. Teresa, Bardocas, the Vine Shoot Platform; the shooting range, the stores and the Bardocas magazine (now demolished), etc.

52. Sentry box near St. James' powder magazine (1864) on Mount Urgull.© Juan Antonio Sáez

The last two periods of fortification came with the abandonment of the lower walls in 1864 and the reinforcement of the coastal batteries during the Spanish-American War in 1898. Most of the barracks, guard posts, powder-stores, etc. still standing or in ruins date from this period.

The fortifications were bought by San Sebastian City Council in 1921 along with the rest of the hill, and partially demolished immediately thereafter. Important restoration work was carried out in 1963 and work was renewed on specific sections in the 1990s.