Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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North Battery
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Chapel
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This battery took
its present form in
the 1890s, when
gun emplace-
ments were
added in prepa-
ration for the
Spanish-
American War.
The officers'
quarters were
added later.
The simple
Capilla de Santa
Bárbara, on
the west
side of Plaza de
Armas, is dedicated
to Santa Barbara
(left)
, the patron
saint of artillerymen,
to whom troops
prayed for their
safe-keeping.
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Main Battery
This battery is the
highest of seven lines
of defence intended to
protect the city from a
land invasion. In 1797, its
cannons
(below)
were
instrumental in repelling
a British invasion led by
Sir Ralph Abercrombie.
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Barracks
The barracks, on the
east side of Plaza de
Armas, were built atop
five massive cisterns.
Even today, the soldiers'
uniforms hang in the
rooms, just as they did
in the 18th century.
*
Ordoñez Cannon
(
Great Moat
This artillery piece,
developed by Spanish
Captain Salvador Díaz
Ordoñez, fired the
opening shots of the
Spanish-American War
on May 12, 1898,
against the USS
Yale
.
The 16-ft (5-m) thick
walls rise over a wide
moat intended to slow
the advance of invaders
and expose them to
deadly fire from the
sentry boxes above.
Haunted
Sentry Box
Puerto Rican legend
has it that the Devil's
Sentry Box is named
for a sentry who was
snatched by the devil,
and left behind only his
musket and uniform.
The truth seems to be
that the soldier craftily
abandoned his post for
his loved one, but many
locals still believe that
the
garita
is haunted.
)
Tunnels
An extensive tunnel
system
(right)
connected
the center of the fort to
the defensive elements
and allowed protected
movement of troops
and artillery. The tunnels
were mined and could
be detonated to deny
the enemy access.
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