II of Spain, who benefited from the disruption caused to and wealth obtained from the French and Dutch trade ships.
In 1656, the city was used as the royal headquarters during the marriage of the Infanta to Louis XIV atSaint-Jean-de-Luz nearby. After a relatively peaceful 17th century, the town was besieged and taken over by the troops of the French Duke of Berwick up to 1721. However, San Sebastián was not spared by shelling in the French assault and many urban structures were reconstructed, e.g. a new opening in the middle of the town, the Plaza Berria (that was to become the current Konstituzio Plaza).
In 1728, the "Real Compañía Guipuzcoana de Caracas was founded and boosted commerce with theAmericas. Thanks to the profit the company generated, the town underwent some urban reforms and improvements and the new Santa Maria Church was erected by subscription. This period of wealth and development was to last up to the beginning of the 19th century.
In 1808, Napoleonic forces captured San Sebastián in the Peninsular War. In 1813, after a siege of various weeks, on 28 August, during the night, a landing party from a British Royal Navy squadron captured Santa Clara Island, in the bay. Three days later, on 31 August, British and Portuguese troops besieging San Sebastián assaulted the town by a stroke of luck (breach in a wall brought about by an explosion of French stored ammunition). The relieving troops lost all self-control, ransacked and burnt the city to the ground. Only the street at the foot of the hill (now called 31 August Street) remained.
Contemporary History
After the destructive events, the reconstruction of the city was decided in the same spot with an only slightly altered layout, since a modern octagonal draft project by the architect P.M. Ugartemendia was turned down and eventually M. Gogorza's blueprint was approved, while supervised and implemented by the former. This
