Castillo de la Real Fuerza
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11 reviews
May 4
It made an impression.. I'm talking about visiting the oldest stone fortress in America, "de la Real Fuerza" (castillo de la Real Fuerza – "Fortress of the Royal Forces"), located in the eastern harbor of Old Havana next to Plaza de Armas and adjacent to the 1776 palacio del Segundo Cabo. After the devastating raid of the French pirate Jacques de Saur in 1555, by order of the regent of the Spanish kingdom, Juana of Austria, between 1558 and 1577, engineers Bartolome Sanchez and Francisco Colona built a fortress with walls 10 meters high and 6 meters thick.
After construction, it turned out that due to the unfortunate location, it could not effectively defend the bay. In 1589-1610, two new fortresses had to be built at the entrance to the Harbor Bay – del Morro (Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro) on the right bank and de San Salvador de la Punta (Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta) on the left.
La Fuerza Fortress began to be used as the governor's residence and as a repository of looted valuables in America, awaiting their shipment to Spain.
I wandered around the fortress with great pleasure, watched everything. There are also museums there: the Museum of the Royal Forces (Museo de la Real Fuerza), the Fortress Museum (Museo de la Fortaleza) and the National Museum of Cuban Ceramics, and the Museum of Navigation (Museo de Navegacion) is located in the moat.
Of interest: the western tower of the La Real Fuerza fortress is crowned with a replica of the famous bronze weather vane Giraldilla (La Giraldilla) with a height of just over a meter and representing a woman with her head proudly raised in a crown, in a tight skirt, with the trunk of a palm branch (symbol of Christ's victory over death) in her right hand and the cross of the Spanish Catholic military order The Knights of Calatrava in the left. The original was executed in 1630 by the Havana sculptor Jeronimo Martin Pinzon on the orders of the governor Don Juan Bitrian Viamonte, and is now in the City Museum (Museo de La Ciudad). This weather vane is associated with a beautiful legend about how the wife of Don Hernando de Soto, appointed governor of Cuba in 1537, and the daughter of the governor of Panama, Isabel (Inez) de Bobadilla, stood on this tower for many years waiting for her husband, who sailed in 1539 to conquer Florida. Admiral de Soto did not return, he died of fever on a campaign in 1542. Isabel died in 1543. Here is such a "Juno and Maybe", you know..
well, and not to end on a tragic note, a pleasant and interesting encore: this sculpture of Giraldilla from the tower de La Real Fuerza is depicted on the label of the famous Cuban rum "Havana Club" produced by Havana Club International (a joint venture "Pernod Ricard" and "Corporacion Cuba Ron"). Not to be confused with the Bacardi rum of the same name from Puerto Rico!
See original · Русский
April 29, 2024
La Fuerza Fortress in Havana is an exciting historical place that is definitely worth a visit. Its construction began in 1589 and it served to protect the port and the city from attacks. Here you can learn a lot about the colonial history of Cuba, as well as enjoy stunning views of Havana.
See original · Русский
March 30, 2024
Be sure to visit.
Gold silver from a sunken galleon, a mock-up of a galleon. A sample of the fortification of that time. Interesting.
See original · Русский