Fort San Felipe del Morro —or El Castillo San Felipe del Morro in Spanish— is a sixteenth-century citadel which lies on the northwestern-most point of the islet of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Named in honor of King Philip II of Spain, the fort, also referred to as "El Morro" or "promontory", was designed to guard the entrance to San Juan bay, and defend the city of San Juan from seaborne enemies. In 1983 (29 years ago), the fort was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations and is part of San Juan National Historic Site. Over two million visitors a year explore the windswept ramparts and passageways making the fort one of Puerto Rico's main visitor attractions. Facing "El Morro", on the opposite side of the bay, a smaller fort known as "El Cañuelo" complemented the fort's defense of the entrance to the bay. The construction of the Fort San Felipe del Morro begun 1539 (473 years ago) when King Charles V of Spain authorized its construction, including the surrounding walls. The purpose was to defend the port of San Juan. Construction started the same year with a tiny proto-fortress that was "completed" in 1589 (423 years ago). This small section comprises perhaps 10% of the structure people see today. In 1587 (425 years ago), engineers Juan de Tejada and Juan Bautista Antonelli designed the actual appearance of the castle following well established Spanish military fortification design principles. Similar Spanish fortifications of the 1600s-1700s can be seen in Cuba, St. Augustine, Florida, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Veracruz and Acapulco, Mexico, Portobello and Panama City, Panamá,and many other Latin American locations which were governed as part of the Spanish Empire during the Age of Exploration. Many complex additional new structures were added to El Morro over the next 400 years. The outer walls are six meters thick. In 1680 (332 years ago), Governor Enrique Enríquez de Sotomayor begun the construction of the walls surrounding the city of San Juan, which took 48 years. By the late 18th century, El Morro's walls had grown to be 18 feet (5.5 m) thick. Today El Morro has six levels that rise from sea level to 145 feet (44 m) high. All along the walls are seen the dome-covered sentry boxes known as garitas, which have become a cultural symbol of Puerto Rico itself. The El Morro or Port San Juan Light was built atop the fort in 1843 (169 years ago), but in 1908 (104 years ago), it was replaced by the US military with the current lighthouse. Monument at El Morro entrance honoring Capt. Juan de Amezquita's defense of San Juan in 1625Including the exterior open killing grounds, known as the glacis and esplanade, dominated by cannon in the 17th and 18th centuries, El Morro can be said to take up over 70 acres (280,000 m²).

Navigation Previous picture Back to gallery Next picture View in fullscreen Rate this picture Click on the star to vote Download 1024x768 1152x864 - widescreen 1280x960 1440x1080 - 1080i HD 1600x1200 Use this wallpaper Set this wallpaper as homepage Comments

Users who have seen this wallpaper have also seen:

Church in Rila Monastery

Fayrac Manor, Beynac, France

Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Japan

Odawara Castle, Japan

Matsumoto Castle, Japan

Random Known places pictures

Bastia, Corsica, France

Lotus Temple

Carlingford, Cooley Peninsula, County Louth, Ireland

Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, United Kingdom

Peaceful Sunset, Namibia

Request deletion of this wallpaper

Claim ownership of this picture